Drown
by nayadeblue
Summary: VanitasNaminéRoxas;- Alternate Universe. She was the girl they teased for being ugly and awkward. Now she's back, stunning and beautiful- ready for revenge. Through a mess of deranged cheerleaders, pranks gone horribly right, and terribly complicated love webs, Naminé learns that true beauty is that which no picture can express -; INDEFINITE HIATUS (exchanged for Finality)
1. The Past

**_a/n:_**_ Alright, to be honest readers, the earlier version of this story wasn't exactly my best. I rushed through it and I didn't put my best effort into telling the story, and even if it sounded good, I know I can't continue a story I don't put my heart into. This is the same as the earlier version, except a whole lot better, because I'm thinking this time and I'm going to make sure I'm proud of my work. _

**_note: _**_There will be slash and mentions of fem!slash in this story. If it's not your cup of tea, then please hit the backspace button. There will be mentions of drugs, sex and alcohol._

_Also, if you'd like a visual representation of Naminé's/other character's outfits, there's a link on my profile: __**Story Linkage**__ that will lead you to pictures._

**_disclaimer: _**_Kingdom Hearts belongs to Square Enix and Disney. All quotes, songs and references used belong to their respective owners. I do not make any profit for this work._

**_props to: _**_John Green & Iain Thomas._

_Without further ado: 'Drown'_

* * *

**& bgm: **_Conversations With My 13-year-old Self - _P!nk

**Drown**

_Ten Years Ago_

If you really think about it, is there a moral to the story of The Ugly Duckling?

The duckling didn't exactly do anything so good or so righteous that the sun started streaming out of his fluffy duckling bottom. All he did was silently endure all of the torture that was thrown at him. He froze in a pond and was dunked in butter by mean little kids. He was hoping for something better, a random stroke of luck, right? And by chance- boom! You might be an ugly duck, but you're a beautiful something else! It was _luck. _Unpredictable, unattainable luck. And no amount of four-leaf clovers is going to rearrange the shape of your face, is it? Can the ugly duckling morals be applied to humans, concerning _appearance?_ NO! They _can't! _So what becomes of malformed, ugly kids, huh? They're forced to deal with the hand that they've got- or should I say _face?_

To this young eight-year-old girl, it was a harsh reality that she often found herself refusing to wake to. Of course, I know what you're thinking, how was an eight-year-old exposed to that kind of harsh realisation so early? Well, it wasn't like it was printed on the back of her cereal box, or tattooed into her skin as soon as the very idea of vanity came to realisation. The despised idea of ugliness was ingrained into her brain, etched into her skin, branded into her bones. Because of it she found herself staring into the mirror for hours on end, or avoiding it all together, like her reflection was the living embodiment of the devil itself.

Children could be so cruel.

Naminé couldn't explain where the never ending brutal streak came from, or what even fuelled their hatred for her. She didn't know her face alone could incite absolute rage like it did in her tormentors, but apparently something about the slope of her nose, or the distance between her eyes animated some kind of primal passive-aggressiveness that resulted in –you guessed it- _bullying._ She was trying to figure out the formula right now, staring into her reflection in the girl's bathroom. Examining herself for some kind of scream-inducing deformity.

She pressed two fingers to the tip of her nose, sliding them across her cheek, pulling the flesh of her eyes down. Naminé liked her eyes. Her stepfather called them 'lake eyes', which wasn't an official term, but she entertained the thought that something about her could be as majestic and beautiful as a lake by sunset. They were the only facet of her face that she could proudly say she adored. But the rest of her; squashed-in nose, her too red, puffy cheeks, too-thin lips, large ears, dirty blond hair and round face, all accounted to a horrifying look that the other kids despised and detested, or at least, Xion Shapiro did.

Xion was who all the other girls aspired to be. She was rich, she was pretty, and she had total control of the entire second grade. Naminé's own family was wealthy as could be, possibly wealthier than Xion's, but the young blond couldn't afford to add more fire to the flames that were spurring the most popular girl in school to hate her more. Instead she kept her distance, envying her from afar. Xion was the arguably the cutest little darling to ever grace the face of Rising Falls Elementary. She had a cute button nose, big blue eyes, rosy cheeks, perfectly shaped lips as well as long, silky black hair that went all the way down to her hips.

How was she supposed to compete with that? Easy. She didn't.

What she did was sit in the Prayer Garden, a small little hollow hidden by the trees, housing a few picnic tables and a small pond, minding her own business. She'd reflect on the reasons why she couldn't play with the other kids, all the time. Her dad said that she was too good for them, that they just didn't get her. But what he didn't understand was that she would sell her soul for a chance to play Tag or Hide & Seek with them, because all Naminé wanted to be, was accepted. Instead she passed the time quietly eating, drawing and finishing her homework early.

This worked for her, because it minimised the damage she knew they could cause, without one ounce of guilt weighing them down.

* * *

**& bgm: **_Halcyon - _Ellie Goulding

_Eight Years Ago_

In grade four they were assigned tables. Naminé was placed next to one of Xion's best friends. Her name was Kairi Blackwood, and was arguably just as pretty, maybe even prettier than Xion. Despite the fact that she was her right hand girl, Kairi was actually very nice and was even willing to avoid performing the normal torture regime when it came to sitting next to Naminé. She was easily as popular as Xion, coming from a wealthy fashion designer mom, and being as cute as a button. She had all the features of a doll, perfect face and gorgeous red-velvet hair that even Xion couldn't beat. That was why she kept Kairi on such a tight leash, because she was the kind of girl that could easily surpass her in popularity, should Kairi ever break the chokehold that the dictator had on her.

To be completely cautious, Naminé kept as much distance between herself and Kairi as physically possible, but fate had other plans, of course. One day the red-head forgot her pencil case and she was forced to ask Naminé if she could use her supplies.

"Sure," she answered, because she couldn't exactly say _no._ To do so would be even deeper social suicide.

Over time Kairi came to rely on Naminé's utensils because 'they're just so much better than mine, and I have no idea where you buy them'. But for some reason Kairi was content to not ask _where _Naminé bought her art gear. She noticed something miraculous soon after she'd stated this: Kairi was letting her guard down. She was being nicer to Naminé, greeting her in the morning and after lunch with a friendly hello. Deep down the blond did harbour a small hope that Kairi would eventually invite her to eat lunch with them, but alas, the opportunity never arose. She was just glad at the moment that one of the populars was being nice to her.

"Your pictures are really pretty, Naminé," Kairi complimented one day.

Naminé gulped and offered a strained smile, she reached for her backpack and pulled out a slip of paper. "Thanks… Kairi, I was wondering if y-you'd maybe… like to come to my… m-my birthday party?"

"O-oh…" she said in surprise, taking the slip from Naminé's small hands and examining it.

Just when the little blond thought she was going to get a response, Xion walked up to their table, Selphie Tilmitt and Roxas Evans at her side. She always had someone, like Hayner Cruz or Rikku Charbonnel, to flank her sides. It completed the image of someone to be feared, to be respected. "Well, what do we have here."

"I-I'm going to have a birthday party!" I said excitedly, thrusting her invitations at the other kids. She took her time to hand one to Selphie, Xion and Roxas before making her way around the room, giving one to every kid in her class. They looked at the invitation with varying mixes of confusion. "It's going to be at my house and I'll be renting out carnival rides, there's going to be a small petting zoo, a moon bounce and my jungle gym is always fun to play on. There'll be cakes and fairy floss and-"

"Listen, Naminé…" Xion said, holding the end of her invitation between her pointer and thumb, as if sustained contact with the paper was going to infect her skin, "Here's the thing about parties; they're a reflection of their host, do you understand?"

Naminé, eyes wide, caught Xion's gaze and nodded her head profusely.

"And if the party is hosted by an ugly… boring… _talentless _person like you, how are we supposed to have any fun?" the black-haired girl grabbed both ends of her invitation and slowly, excruciatingly slowly, started ripping it apart.

Naminé's heart was thumping in her ears as everyone around her started following her lead. From Roxas to Hayner, and finally Kairi, who looked like she was in pain as she shredded Naminé's invitation to pieces, without even the slightest order from Xion. Naminé's eyes burned as tears slowly started to trickle down her cheeks. All around her was the sound of ripping paper, the sound of rejection, repeated again and again and again. This was true pain.

What a shame we all became such fragile, broken things…

The bell rang and everybody went out to recess while Naminé was left to pick up the pieces of her invitations before the teacher came back. Her eyes were blurry with tears as she picked up all that she could, throwing it into the bin while trying to keep her crying in check. Dad always said that crying for sadness was unbecoming of a lady. When she brought her wrist away from her eyes, a boy was standing in front of her.

The first thing that she noticed wasn't that he was black-haired, or had his ears pierced. It wasn't that he was wearing commando boots or a shirt that said 'grunge is dead', neither the fact that he was an outcast or had the most frightening pair of amber eyes she'd ever seen resonated in her mind. No. The first thing she noticed about him, was that he hadn't ripped up her invitation.

"Listen," he said, scratching the back of his head, as if he was nervous. She didn't know, Naminé couldn't tell at the time. "I hate to be the bearer of more bad news, but parties… they aren't really my thing."

He gave her back the invitation, and her eyes travelled from his arm, wearing an array of bracelets, to his shoulder, to his face. She noticed that she didn't even know this boy's name. Nevertheless, she nodded her head. Before he turned away she spit out a thought that blossomed in her mind like a nuclear explosion.

"You have beautiful eyes."

He stopped- apparently shocked by the confession. He didn't answer though, he just turned back around, a flash of curiosity in those enchanting eyes of his, and nodded his head in silent thanks.

"My name's Naminé. What's yours?" she held out her hand.

He shook it, the corner of his lips turning up in a crooked smile. His hands were slender, and longer than her own. She would have swooned if the sound didn't come out as a staggered sigh. "Vanitas."

"Vanitas… Thank you, for not ripping up my invitation."

"Some people need to be high-fived. In the face. With a chair."

She let out a true, happy laugh. And the feeling was like euphoria. It was so rare, it sounded like wind chimes. He wouldn't admit it, but he was stunned by how beautiful it sounded.

"I'm sorry the first time you meet me, I have to be an absolute mess of a person. I just wish… you know?"

"Well," he shrugged, "the world is not a wish-granting factory. But I'm sure you'll get by fine." He started to fiddle with the bracelets on his arm, slipping one off without obstructing any of the others. "Here. You can have this. Happy birthday."

She stared at it questioningly, taking in its features. It was a small hemp bracelet that was black and knotted together with purple, green and white string. There were beads of gold, blue and silver around two beautiful charms; one was a green peace sign, and the other was a hanging, intricately designed leaf. It was the first present she'd ever received from someone that wasn't a family member.

"Thanks," she sniffed, wiping her nose on her sleeve. She held the bracelet to her chest, keeping it close to her heart.

He winked lazily, "Stay excellent, Naminé."

_And then my soul saw you and it kind of went, 'Oh there you are. I've been looking for you.'_

* * *

**& bgm: **_Very Busy People_ _- _The Limousines

_Six Years Ago_

She was twelve years old, and she was listening to Nirvana and the Limousines as well as learning how to play the guitar. She figured that if no one wanted to have anything to do with her, she'd stop trying to impress people with her appearance. She was ugly after all, and nothing was going to change that. She still stuck to the Prayer Garden, her works getting bigger, more emotional. Her sketchbook became a great place to hide, to express herself the only way she knew how. She wasn't so far into the musical development to start composing her own work, so she practiced by playing Oasis songs and hiding in her headset.

One day, on a whim, she saw a particular video on the internet of some fantastic skateboarding, and so decided that she wanted one as well. It looked like great fun, and she found that anyone doing it looked cool, no matter what they looked like. So after class she researched the closest store and walked in with her pocket money in hand.

Money was never a problem. Her stepfather had never grown out of the habit of trying to _buy_ her love, and she had never tried to stop him. He was also very supportive and kind to her, so she couldn't really fault him, except that he and her mother were never around, developing a really lonely and somewhat eccentric kid.

The shop that she walked into was called Highwind Repair and was also half a garage, half a shop that catered to bikes and scooters. She started to examine the skateboards, not paying attention to any of the weird looks that the other people in the store were giving her. The little blond thought she had made a choice and was about to ask for the price when a gruff looking man walked up to her, cigarette in his mouth, raising one of his hairy eyebrows.

"Hello, darlin'."

She tilted her head at him, her lips curling into a smirk. "Hello."

"You know, I should be saying little girls aren't meant to skateboard."

Naminé's smiled widened, "I suspect that's what they said to Joan Jett when she started guitar."

The old man produced a smoker's cough and held out his hand, "Cid Highwind, young lady."

"Naminé," she replied. "I'm looking for a beginning skateboard."

"I'll go get my nephew. He doesn't work here, but he'll show you what to choose."

Naminé nodded and returned to examining all the board work. They were all creative and very beautiful, she wouldn't be able to choose which one to ride. Cid had been gone for five minutes before he appeared, holding the arm of a fairly reluctant young boy.

"Uncle Cid, I don't wanna talk to her."

"She may want to skateboard, but she's a bloody lady, young man, and I expect you to treat her like one."

"But-"

"I'm not askin' you ta marry her, just help her choose a board."

Naminé turned around and widened her eyes as they landed on Roxas Evans. She tilted her head to the side before making a motioning gesture with her neck, beckoning Roxas closer.

"These are all really pretty," she admitted, trying to start the conversation.

Roxas narrowed his eyes, "It's not the design that-"

The blond turned her entire body to him and crossed her arms over her chest, "I'll give you twenty dollars if you don't lie to me about which ones ride the best."

He blinked, his body language straightening itself up. He scratched the back of his neck nervously, "Listen, I might not talk to you at school…"

She shook her head, a 'seriously? what the fuck' smile melting into her features, "I'm not asking for your spleen Roxas. I'm just asking you what kind of board rides the best. I'm asking you to forget your hatred towards me for five minutes, and rewarding you for not letting petty social standing get in the way of telling me the truth."

He stared at her in shock before shaking his head, "I was saying I'm not going to lie to you. I don't want your money."

"Really?" she put her hand on her hip. "It's an easy twenty. Or do you want more than that?"

He shook his head more rigorously this time, sighing. "Alright, first, tell me how tall you are."

They ended up speaking about twenty minutes about the board and all of her preferences about wheels, bearings, trucks and grip tape before Naminé finally settled on her perfect dimensions. She picked a pretty black, white and pink design of the brand Element that Roxas took off a rack for her.

"Aren't you even going to look at the price?"

She flipped the board and her eyes flickered to the sticker for little more than two seconds. "Oh, okay."

"'Okay'?" he repeated.

She stared at him and nodded her head, "Okay."

"Are you serious? That's a bloody expensive board."

"You said it's a good board, so I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt and trusting you." He blinked at her and shrugged. He just couldn't understand her.

"Alright. If you say so."

Curious about how she was going to do, Roxas followed her to the nearest skate park, which happened to be only a few streets away. It was sunset and Roxas' older friends would be there. Just as he suspected, Axel Prezette, Zexion Corazza, Demyx Hansen and Larxene Moreno were waiting for him under the overpass, sharing a packet of cigarettes. She was kind of intimidated by these high school seniors. They looked so cool, with their weird hairstyles. Was it mandatory to go insane as a teenager?

"Hey buddy!" Axel said excitedly, rushing over to them. "Who's this guy?"

"I'm a girl," Naminé corrected him. "And I'm Naminé. Rookie skater."

"Ew. I hate rookies," Axel admitted, patting Roxas on the back and grabbing Naminé's hand, hurrying them under the overpass. "So, what are you good for Nami?"

She raised her eyebrow. A nickname, already? He certainly was friendly.

"To step on."

"Right to the point. I like you," he grinned, completely contradicting himself. She looked around the group, trying to discern their ages. They looked about five years older than both her and Roxas, so they'd be about seventeen years old.

"You don't look like a girl," Larxene said.

"Neither do you," she replied instantly.

"Why you little-!" she growled, trying to get up, but Demyx stopped her with his hand, while trying not to laugh.

Axel laughed, a loud raucous laugh that echoed under the overpass. "Ladies, ladies, there's enough of me to go around." Amazingly enough, both female blonds rolled their eyes at him.

"I'm Demyx," the mohawked blond introduced himself cheerily, "and this is Zexion, but he doesn't talk much."

"More like, _at all_," Roxas said, smiling at Naminé as if they shared a bond already. "In the time I've known him, he's only said, six words, and all of them have been to correct Demyx's pronunciation."

"My English is not _that_ bad!"

"It's bad enough for Zexion to summon up the precious energy to speak."

"The bitch is Larxene," Axel explained.

"Come and call me a bitch again, fire crotch, I will snap your little winkie off."

"How _dare_ you call it _little!_"

Naminé joined in their laughter, loving what it was felt like to feel like she belonged, even for a little while.

"Is that a new board?" Demyx asked her.

"Yeah, fresh from the store," she shrugged. "I need a teacher."

"Good luck getting one, Blue eyes," Axel said, lighting up another cigarette and putting it in his mouth.

"I'll pay fifty bucks a lesson."

Axel choked on his cigarette before throwing it away and rushing over to Naminé, picking her up and swinging her around like a doll, "You have _found_ your man, Naminé!" He twirled her around again before putting her down.

She shrugged in Roxas' direction and said, "It might be manipulative, but money works in most situations."

"Roxas- teach me how to teach skateboarding!"

* * *

**& bgm: ** _With a Little Help from my Friends - _The Beatles

_Four Years Ago_

By this time, Naminé had developed a little friend group to talk to at lunch times. She didn't have the Prayer Garden to go to anymore, since she now attended Rising Falls Academy, in her eighth year of schooling, she was now fourteen. Sure, there was an equivalent, here at her high school. The school as built around a cute little pond. But she didn't rely on it anymore. There weren't any places to hide by that pond.

Hollow Bastion Academy was a great school created from strange purple sandstone, in the wacky design of Radiant Garden's own Castle. To sum everything up, it was like a colourful version of Hogwarts. There were classrooms in twisting towers. There were sprockets and hinges still sticking out of the school walls, and there were more classrooms attached to the school only by thin connecting bridges that stuck out from the bulk of the castle itself. There were parts of the school that weren't quite ready to be accessed yet as well as different spires and halls that were ornamentally decorated with paintings and carvings so beautiful and ancient the school could be compared to none other.

Naminé's friend group consisted of –get this- Roxas. After she'd made the deal with Axel, she saw him all the time, and the two of them had become unlikely friends. Sure, he spent about one day a week with the other populars, but she spent the rest of the time with their small little clique. Roxas was a lot more kind and awkward than she first assumed. And he apologised for ripping up her invitation, which was definitely a plus.

The next person to join their little group was Olette DiCicco. She was a brainy girl from Twilight Town whose favourite subject was World History. She'd been invited to Xion's group once or twice, but rejected them because after the first week it was apparent that she was trying to copy Olette's answers in math class. Naminé had a Modern History assignment with the brunet and afterwards they'd come out of it friends.

Pence Lockhart was the weird guy in Naminé's art class that was into cool nerdy stuff, like Star Trek and Doctor Who. It was little wonder that they became such friends after Naminé drew a picture of the Tardis for their creative drawing exercise. Apparently Roxas' older half-brother, Cloud, was friends with Pence's older sister, Tifa.

The last member of their little clique was Hayner Cruz, who was a boy that _had _bullied Naminé when he was little, but now stood to defend her. Roxas and Hayner were both on the soccer team and unbeknownst to Olette, Hayner had a huge crush on her, which happened to be the reason he'd started hanging out with them. Overtime, even when it became apparent that Olette wasn't interested, he still came by because their bonds were just too strong now, and he loved begging them to come to their soccer games.

Naminé couldn't really believe she had friends now. It was kind of amazing. But just when things were going so well, she was starting to realise things about herself that would rock the delicate balance of her sweet little world. She was coming to a realisation she wasn't sure she was ready to admit.

She'd always been friendly with Kairi, she was her next door neighbour after all, despite the fact that she was one of Xion's dreaded followers. At first she was blaming these feelings on being an artist, and understanding the parts of the female body as well as the males, but it was hard to deny the emotions that almost overpowered her when she came across a particularly attractive female.

Over time it was becoming harder to see Kairi as a friend. She was just that gorgeous, and thinking about her girl parts was becoming a bad habit. It wasn't just Kairi either. She was exploring sections of Tumblr that were designed for the particularly curious female. She was trying to understand a part of her that she might have been denying for a long time.

"Guys, I have something to tell you."

Hayner, ever the joker moaned and said, "Yep! She's a guy. Pay up Roxas, you owe me twenty bucks."

"What the hell- Hayner, I did not. Nam, he's lying."

Naminé giggled a little, glad that he was trying to distil some of the tense atmosphere. Olette glared and hit him across the head, "Shh! Naminé's trying to say something."

"Is it something bad?" Roxas, the considerate one, asked. "You're not in trouble are you?"

"You know I don't think shagging a teacher is legal in the state of Radiant Garden."

Pence growled, "Hayner…"

"I'm just saying!"

"Please be quiet." Pence murmured.

"Oh, Nam, darling." Hayner said, taking Naminé's hands and putting them to his chest. "You know we're going to support you no matter what, right?"

"Okay, thanks."

"Is it a boy or a girl?"

Olette grabbed one of her pens and stabbed Hayner in the ribs with it, causing him to lose balance and fall of the table making unintelligible sounds. Roxas, Naminé and Pence stared at her with shock. "_What?_ He was being annoying." Let it never be said that Olette wasn't a dangerous human being.

"So you're not pregnant?" Pence asked her.

"Not exactly," she shrugged. _Not at all really. _She just decided to say it. Rip it off. Like a band aid. "I'm bi."

They were all silent for a long time. Pence broke the silence by clapping, and soon enough her other friends were doing the same thing. She didn't know whether to be annoyed or grateful, so she started to laugh nervously. "What the fuck are you guys doing?"

"That took courage!" Pence said, "So we're congratulating you."

"Yeah," Roxas grinned.

"Now, fifty percent more people have the chance to be with a wonderful person," Olette declared, coming around the table to hug me.

"Fuck, that's hot," Hayner smirked, having recovered from his stab wound. Naminé rolled her eyes and joined her friends in their laughter. It was nice to feel truly accepted. She honestly thought that at least one of them would reply negatively to her confession, but they were all supporting her, and that was awesome.

"I wouldn't say fifty percent more. I can't imagine anyone that'd wanna date this face."

"Don't be so down, Naminé. You're a catch."

"Stop bullshitting me guys."

* * *

**& bgm: **shuffle playlist.

Unfortunately, her friends weren't the only ones informed of this news. Someone overheard, and it spread. All of the girls started to avoid Naminé like the plague, and even Kairi wouldn't reply to her greetings in the morning. The blond thought she had prepared for this, but she hadn't. Xion was always going to be queen bee, and whatever she wanted, she was going to get. And now she wanted Naminé to go insane by alienation.

The bullying, which had declined since Hayner joined her little group, went up by two-hundred percent, and Naminé found herself getting chased, beat up and mocked every day because she was ugly, because she was rich, and now, she was being hunted down because Xion saw her as a potential lesbian- which apparently frightened the fuck out of her.

One day Naminé was cornered in the bathroom, just a frightened fourteen-year-old trying to wash her hands when Xion's little group filed in and sealed her in the back. She pressed herself against the cold tiles, wondering how she was going to get out of this mess. Luck, as usual, was against her.

"Xion, to what do I owe the pleasure?"

"You know very well, you filthy lesbian," she answered. Now Naminé knew what witches felt like in the Middle Ages. And we all know how those ended. God, she wished Olette was there. "We can't have you targeting innocent people, like Kairi. Like me."

"I'm bi, you homophobic twat. And you don't have to worry, because I wouldn't be interested in you if we were the last two people alive." She knew that provoking Xion right now was possibly the worst idea in the history of ideas, but she just couldn't help herself. Naminé's word vomit just happened to be snarky and bitchy.

Xion's eyes widened and she snarled out something guttural to the girls following her. Before she could understand what was happening, her head was shoved into the toilet, and because she couldn't hear the scissors Xion was taking out of her purse over the water and splashing, she had absolutely no idea what was happening because two girls were holding her down and she was trying to swerve her head to breath, like she was swimming instead of dunking her head in the fucking urinal. She didn't realise her hair was missing until there was nothing for Xion to hold her head down with.

Naminé had to do the walk of shame from the bathroom to the principal's office, so possibly twenty-five percent of her grade saw how she now harboured the haircut (get this) that would often be _associated_ with a lesbian. She griped at her head and yanked at a section of hair. It looked like she'd gotten her head stuck in the bloody wood chipper. She felt like crying, but she knew she couldn't give Xion her tears.

After I came back looking like Anne Hathaway in Les Mis her father decided to send her to a different school in Dark City. She couldn't believe it.

Xion had won.

* * *

**& bgm: **_Write You Off - _Dead Cool Dropouts

_Two Years Ago_

There was a miraculous moment while she was finishing a painting one day when she realised that the best way to get back at Xion for all the mean things that she did to her, would be to become _pretty_ and _happy_.

Because of this thought, Naminé rushed over to her mirror and started to inspect herself. Over the years, nature had forgiven her for whatever torrential misgivings she'd committed as a child and fixed up sections of her face. Now her nose was ski-slope shaped, her lips were bow shaped, her cheeks were still red sometimes, but only when she was embarrassed or angry, and her ears were a normal sized. Her blond hair was becoming another good facet as if fell down in gentle waves.

She couldn't really explain it, but puberty had actually been pretty nice to her, if you forgave the severe acne (Lolcano. Ha ha. Get it? Because her face is a joke) and a monthly reminder that her uterus was shedding excess skin because she couldn't find a suitable cock to consummate with. She looked halfway decent, but she was still a skinny little bitch and she needed to get rid of the acne to see what was underneath all of the anti-men repellent that was her _face._

So she hired a personal trainer, and started going to gym. Every time she thought 'God, this is so hard' and 'Why don't I just give up now?' she thought about the expression on Xion's face if she ever saw Naminé again. It would be priceless, monumental, entirely satisfactory. And that's what spurred her on for the next few years, an incredible determination to see Xion cry like she had cried. She would grab Xion's leg and haul her off her high horse. Xion would fall in the metaphorical horse shit. It was such a fulfilling day dream.

"Dad?"

_"Yes, honey?" _he asked, and Naminé could tell he was at some kind of busy intersection because of all the noise in the background.

"I want to go back to Rising Falls Academy for senior year."

_"Oh dear, are you sure sweetheart? What if you come back nearly bald again?"_

She shrugged, even though she knew he couldn't see her. "I think I rocked the stereotypical lesbian cut. But either way, my hair's grown out now. I think I might want to brave those lunatics and their scissors."

_"Are you _sure_ you want this?"_

"I'm absolutely sure."

Naminé wondered about her life in Dark City. She hadn't made any friends, because her life had been consumed with thoughts about going back and getting her revenge. Even though guys were starting to ask her out now (a strange scientific phenomenon still in the midst of research), there were forces begging her to come back to Hollow Bastion. She knew she wouldn't be able to live a satisfactory life if she didn't come back, bullying and all.

So she armed herself.

First and foremost, she took karate, so she would never be overpowered by other girls again.

And then the hard bit came; she created a will of steel that would drag her to the gym every day, she toned herself, she learnt how to apply makeup, she looked all over the internet for new clothes, and she started to read those corny 'change your attitude' books under her sheets with a flashlight late at night. Her mother noticed it first; "Naminé, dear? You look a little different. Come here. Oh my, you look like a younger version of me. It was about time those stupid genes of yours started to kick in." "Thanks for clarifying that I was an ugly child, even in your eyes." Followed by her father; "Naminé, I will slice through the spleens of a thousand men to keep you safe." "Geez Dad, you couldn't say that when I wasn't pretty?" "Don't be ridiculous, of course not."

She never gave into the temptation to update her Facebook profile picture, or buy pretty clothes until the end of the transformation from fugly to goddess.

She worked on her art and her music, between stalking Xion's profile and trying to figure out what Vanitas was doing through all of his friend's posts. She couldn't believe he didn't have Facebook. It made stalking him so much harder.

Gradually, fractions, moments at a time, her skin cleared until it was as white as snow. Hair detangled and gained a natural shine. Baby fat disappeared and left behind a pretty heart-shaped face. Her body became toned and curvy all at once. Her transformation was almost complete.

Naminé became utterly obsessed with the idea of revenge. Her beauty was a weapon, and she would wreak mass destruction upon Rising Falls Academy.

She just didn't know it yet.

**tbc.**

* * *

_So yeah, this is my better version for you guys to enjoy. I'm _happy _with this. I will not delete it. Please leave a comment before you favourite/follow, it would really make my day. & remember, you can always look for pictures from the story in my blog. _

_kacey._

**_last revision: _**_12th July, 2013_


	2. Nocte

**_a/n:_**_ A million thanks to athgeass, Maverick Hunter Phoenix, Flying By Wire & Ka-tay's mind for reviewing the last chapter. I'm eternally grateful for your support. Sorry it's taken so long, I've been distracted with Youtube make up tutorials. Even if I don't wear makeup, they're so fun to watch._

_As I've stated before, links to Naminé's outfits and other bonuses like the d'Blanc Mansion can be found through the __**Linkage**__ hyperlink on my profile. If it's not too much trouble, would you tell me in a review if you're actually looking at the pictures? Because if no one's looking at them I might as well stop._

_Gods, it looks like I'm going to have to bump up the rating if I keep this up._

**_props to: _**_Gino Nichele, Nathan Young, OUR, William Shakespeare & black-and-white-universe._

**_warning: _**_M-rated content in this chapter. It's not graphic, guys, so don't run away yet. In fact, I tried to make it as vague as possible. _

* * *

**& bgm: **shuffle playlist.

**Drown**

_One Year Ago_

_It was like a scene from a movie. The super-hot heroin walks in with the most gorgeous outfit on and everything goes into slow motion. The sun shines from behind her as guys turn their heads to catch a glimpse. They fall at her feet, they cat-call and wolf-whistle, while they clamber for her number. She-_

Naminé was startled out of her day dream by a click of fingers. The cute barista has set her drink down in front of her. She looked down at it like one would a flying green snail before picking it up and taking a sip. She let out a large sigh, her breath becoming visible in the cold morning air. It was a lot colder in Hollow Bastion than it was in Dark City, and because of it she was decked out in clothes that her mother had bought her for her birthdays. She just didn't understand why her precious daughter –who now looked _so_ beautiful- was saving her shopping spree for right before she got back.

Over the course of the two years she'd been away from Hollow Bastion, she'd only given into temptation to buy pretty clothes when the need was just so unbearably dire. Right before she approached senior year, she would have all the latest fashion trends and amazing hair to go with it, in order to get the revenge on Xion she so desperately craved.

Unfortunately, now was not that time.

Naminé was in her junior year of high school. She'd been going to Dark City Prep. She'd only come back to celebrate her mother's birthday. Naminé hadn't made any friends, she made sure of that because she was going to have to leave them all before senior year anyway. Even her roommate underwent a cold silence. She explained this to someone once, trying to explain why she didn't want to have lunch or study with certain people, and because of this explanation, she'd been getting a lot of guys asking her on dates. Maybe they thought the chance of her saying yes increased because she'd be leaving next year, but that wasn't the case. She'd remained diligent in her promise to not get social with the students of Dark City Prep in order to cement her ties with Rising Falls Academy.

To say Naminé had changed would be the understatement of the century. She'd undergone a complete transformation from ugly duckling to elegant swan, and _no one_ would recognise her when she came back. Even her parents had trouble fathoming the change. She hadn't been in contact with her friends from Rising Falls apart from sending them texts every birthday or so. They were going to be so surprised when she came back.

Naminé now had flawless skin the colour of ivory, very fair and beautiful. All the baby fat had been concealing a gorgeous heart-shaped face. Her features were delicate and adorable, slim ski-slope nose, pale bow-shaped lips, her wide lake eyes, soft eyebrows and perfectly-shaped ears. Her hair was still a mess, but looked naturally divine in all its platinum blond beauty. Her body had been worked and tone to perfection; swan-like neck, smooth shoulders, thin arms. She had shapely breasts, a smooth tummy, curves in all the right places, and two gloriously long legs that ended in cute petite feet. Sometimes it was hard to believe, but Naminé couldn't think of a more perfect her. She felt so confident in her body right now, and ironically, it was all thanks to Xion.

Of course, her arsenal wouldn't be complete without a developed sense of fashion. At the moment she was wearing a particularly low-key outfit; a comfortable cream shirt, some dark blue skinny jeans, some brown biker boots and a darker brown fur-lined hood. She fiddled with her necklace as she waited for her mother to pick her up. Her fingers stroked the black crucifix and she wound it around her fingers in impatience. She took another sip of her coffee when someone suddenly slammed into her, spilling her drink all over her jacket.

"Oh my god, I am _so_ sorry!" Naminé turned around, now holding an empty cup of coffee, wearing it instead on her jacket. She sent a seriously pissed off look in the direction of the guy that bumped into her. He was a muscly beef head by the looks of it; eyes were hooded by a dorky beanie. His shocked look turned into one of intrigue as he examined Naminé up and down. "Wow, you're gorgeous."

"Seriously? You couldn't have picked up a worse time to use a pick-up line," she snapped, taking off her jacket and flicking off the dripping water. "I guess it's not that bad, since I don't really like this jacket that much." But without it she was freezing. Her shirt was so bloody thin.

"I really am _very _sorry about that. My name's Beat."

_Beat?_ _Beat Daisukenojo, _she thought, trying to remember where she'd heard the name before. Her eyes widened when she remembered that he had been one of the jocks Xion coaxed into making fun of her when she passed the football field. Her mood went from stormy to arctic frost in three seconds flat.

"Whatever…" she growled, turning away from him and shaking out her jacket again.

"Hey, don't be like that. It was an accident," he said, walking around to her front. "You can have my jacket if you want."

"No thank you," she snapped, mouth turned down in a vicious snarl. She grabbed her bags and wheeled them away from him, rubbing her arms in order to produce some warmth.

"Are you sure?"

_God dammit, now he's following me. _

She ignored him and went on her phone, dialling her mom to see where she was right now. She wasn't picking up. Beat walked around to her front again with his jacket in his hands.

"C'mon, stop being stubborn, you're obviously freezing."

Naminé's eyebrow twitched, "And you're obviously not taking any hints. I don't want your help. Go away."

He shook his head and muttered, "I don't know why pretty girls are always so mean."

She'd had enough, that comment absolutely infuriated her. She balled up her fists and held herself back from punching him in the face. "You might find I'm pissed at you, not because I might be pretty, but because you're a pushy, insistent asshole!"

"You don't even know me," he scoffed.

"Oh yeah? Well I know your type!"

"Sure you do."

"Tell me to my face that you've never yelled something hurtful like 'fatty', 'ugly' or some other petty tease at some unfortunate victim?" Naminé demanded, stepping forward so she was right in his face.

Beat faltered before shaking his head, "I haven't!"

Naminé laughed humourlessly, catching sight of her mother at the entrance. "Well then you're a filthy liar, Daisukenojo."

She walked off, leaving a completely shocked Beat behind.

"How did she…?"

She simply smirked and continued walking.

* * *

**& bgm: **_The Best Day - _Taylor Swift

"Oh my, Naminé, you get more beautiful every time I see you!" Naminé's mother, Cindy, hugged her daughter as they approached their house. Their mansion was a gloriously spacious place with more room than any of them knew what to do with. It was of grand, old architecture encompassing Roman and Spanish design. There were statuettes and pillars, a huge pool and mile-long gardens to get lost in. Naminé preferred her dormitory to the large place though, often feeling quite disoriented and lonely in such a large place by herself.

"Aww, thanks, Mom. I've been eating healthy, working out."

"That's wonderful, Darling."

Her house was so large her mother had to text her father to know which room he was in. After a few seconds she got a reply and they went to a lounge room located on the second floor, overlooking the pool. Her stepfather was waiting for them with a huge smile, getting up to hug his daughter breathless.

Naminé observed both of her parents. They were both so good looking and successful, despite their age. Her mother was a journalist for the Hollow Bastion Times, and her stepfather was the CEO for a famous recording company named Radiant Records. Her mother was a beautiful woman, which often made Naminé wonder why she was born so ugly. She didn't like to speak about Naminé's biological father. Her stepfather, Ansem, was a kind man and treated her mother well, and because of that, Naminé loved him.

They went out to lunch at a small little restaurant in the Royal District, which was the one closest to Hollow Bastion's castle. Cindy insisted on Naminé telling them what kind of adventures she'd been up to in her boarding school.

"Honestly? No parties? No boyfriend? Just studying?" Ansem asked her.

"Yep."

"You can't be serious, Darling. You know we'd prefer it if you have a little fun," her mother said. "We sent you to Dark City Prep in order for you to enjoy yourself more than you did here."

Naminé shrugged, "But I'd like to come back here, Mom. I know all of my bullies were here, but all of my friends are here too. I haven't had much contact with them to keep my studies up, but I'm going to see them before I return." She bit into her salad, chewing quietly as she waited for her parent's response.

"Naminé, darling, are you serious about wanting to come back to Rising Falls Academy?" Ansem asked her seriously, amber eyes narrowing.

"Yes, Ansem."

The both of them gave each other a look before letting out a sigh. At first she thought that they were going to reject her, but Naminé had never been a spoilt rotten child, and they always remembered that fact whenever she _did_ ask for something. She drummed her fingers against the edge of her plate, nervous as they continued on a silent conversation in front of her.

"The reason we're so reluctant to say yes is not only because of the fact that you were severely bullied there, but because Ansem is going to be spending a majority of your final year in Twilight Town for his job, and I'll be moving there with him. There'll be no one to be with you at home."

Ansem nodded, "And you always said how you got so lonely at home, Naminé, dear. I mean, we're not afraid of you to throw parties or other teenager stuff –in fact, we'd very much _like_ for you to participate in things as a normal teenager, honey- but we have… your mental health to think about."

Naminé's eyes darkened as they broached the subject she'd been trying to avoid. It always got awkward when they brought up her illness. Somewhere into eighth grade, after Xion decided to go ape shit on Naminé with a pair of scissors, she went through a phase of complete silence. She didn't want to do anything; school, painting, eating, talking to friends. All she did was sleep her troubles away, and because of that her mother went to get her assessed by a psychologist and a psychiatrist specialising in teen mental health. Over a period of three months she was diagnosed with manic depression, with her worst spots being described as atypical depression. During this time, there was always one parent at home, and they even hired a nanny to babysit Naminé when the both of them were particularly busy.

Ansem was sent to Dark City because of his job, and it was then that he decided to send Naminé to a boarding school, visiting her whenever he could. It took her a while to recover, finally speaking after five months of complete silence. It was a while before Ansem thought she was well enough for him to return to Hollow Bastion. Naminé still took medication for falling asleep at night, a fact she had gone to great lengths to hide from her roommate, who found the pills once and assumed she was doing drugs.

"Mom, Ansem, I've been speaking to Aqua every month for the last few years. I don't have depressive fits anymore, and when I do, I call one of you. I promise you, I'm doing better than I have in years." She finished her argument with a large smile to accentuate her argument. Aqua was her personal psychiatrist, and was based here in Headspace Hollow Bastion. She's only met her once or twice before.

"Honestly?"

"Cross my heart."

Ansem let out another breath before taking a sip of his coffee, setting it down before saying, "If that's the case then I have a solution for you. We can set up an apartment for you over your cousin Luxord's night club. Have you heard of it? Club Spades."

She had. It was one of the most popular clubs in Hollow Bastion. Axel and Demyx had once complained about the super long line when they went out on Fridays. She didn't know the building was big enough to house tenants but apparently the building was about to undergo, or had undergone some renovations.

"I have."

"This way, Luxord can check up on you from time to time. And it would really soothe our minds if you got yourself a roommate."

"A roommate?" she repeated, intrigued.

Cindy reached over the table to take her daughter's hand, "They don't have to, you know, _know_ about your condition, Nami, but having someone around would make you less lonely and we want someone around all time, because we won't be there for you twenty-four seven."

Naminé let out a sigh, unsure if she was completely sure with the idea, but they were pretty reasonable arguments, and she'd seem spoilt if she rejected her parent's opinions. "So if I agree to this, then I can definitely go to Rising Falls for senior year?"

"Yes," they said in tandem.

"Just you wait, Naminé. It's going to be so much fun! You'll have a wonderful senior year," her mother encouraged her.

"Yeah," Naminé nodded, both to their proposition and her mother's statement. "I will."

* * *

**& bgm: **_I Need Your Love ft. Ellie Goulding - _Calvin Harris

Naminé didn't have any sure fire way to contact any of her friends.

It was unfortunate, but in a fit of severe sadness she'd deleted all of her friend's numbers, and then threw her phone into the pool over two years ago, and she didn't know any of them off by heart. She didn't have Facebook or some other social networking site because when her friends started spamming her Tumblr inbox with questions, she deleted their URLS. Months later, when she checked on them, they'd either changed their URLS, quit Tumblr or something. She'd lost all contact with them during her darkest days, so she was left wandering around Hollow Bastion with little hope of finding any of them. Hollow Bastion was a huge city, and her friend group was fairly small.

She didn't even want to speak to them really, they must have been so angry and sad when she dropped off the face of the earth, unwilling to speak to any of them, but she did want to see them at least. She was almost afraid to know. What if they hadn't forgiven her for disappearing on them?

She was feeling an overwhelming sense of nostalgia as she dropped into Highwind Repairs. Naminé almost laughed out loud when she was greeted with confused stares from all the employees and customers. _It's just like the first time I was here._ She didn't have any intention to buy anything, but she did skim over the skateboard choices, marvelling at how the designs seemed as marvellous and beautiful as the last time she'd been there. A boy she recognised as Neku from Rising Falls was manning the counter, reading a magazine.

"Hello?"

Neku was listening to headphones, so she had to wave her hand in his vision to get his attention. He turned to her slowly, eyes greeting hers lazily, "Yeah?"

"I just wanted to know if Cid's nephew has been here lately."

Neku's voice was soft, he flicked another page, "You just missed him. He said he's going to the skate park."

"Thanks," she smiled, even though the emotion was lost on the always emotionless Neku. She shrugged and started making her way towards the skate park, taking back so many memories at the sight.

She sat on the edge of a bowl, hitting the heels of her boots against the edge of it. Naminé looked around, wishing she had brought her skateboard with her. It was just one of those items that she left behind in her old room when she left for Dark City. Most of her childhood had been rotting here with it.

Just when she thought she'd never find Roxas, she heard his voice and swerved around just in time to see him streak past, as fast as lightning. She didn't have time to see just how much he'd changed, because he was performing something most skateboarders know to be a really, really hard trick. Various people around the skate park were cheering him on as he built up momentum between two sides of the bowl before pulling off an amazing kick flip mctwist.

The audience were clapping and cheering him, someone –that looked like Pence… it _was_ Pence!- was filming him, and Roxas was hyped up from just pulling off one of the hardest moves in skating history. Naminé got up, dusting herself off as she stared Roxas down. It was a little hard, because he was surrounded by a lot of adoring girls fawning over him.

He'd become so gorgeous in their absence. His body was lithe, skinny but toned and his facial features were more grown up. His chin was a little more angular, his hair a little more tame, his eyes a little more serious. But he was easily one of the best looking guys in the entire park.

She was thinking about approaching him, but just when she was about to step forward, two of Roxas' fangirls spotted her staring at him, and started to walk forward. It wasn't hard to spot her, there were a scant few girls in the skate park, mostly men. These girls weren't skaters. She wasn't being judgemental, but –alright, maybe she was- she could just tell. They were wearing heels.

"Who are you?" one demanded.

"Why are you looking at our Roxas like that?"

Naminé blinked in astonishment, "Excuse me… 'Our'?"

"Yeah, he wouldn't be interested in a weird girl like you, so please leave."

She found herself rolling her eyes, starting to walk towards Roxas when one of them pushed her down. Unfortunately, what she didn't realise was that she was standing right behind a bowl, and because of it she was about to fall and crack her head when someone reached forward to grip her forearm.

"Woah! Careful there," Roxas pulled her forward, misjudged the distance, and ended up propelling her forward, into his chest. She blushed dangerously and stepped back, afraid to look him in the eyes. She was going through so many emotions, confusion, embarrassment, shame, guilt, and happiness.

"That was an amazing flip mctwist, seriously. The hardest move I ever learned was the three-sixty pop shove-it."

"That's still a hard trick, do you skate?" Naminé turned her attention towards the bitchy girls and stuck her tongue out at them. They sauntered off with piss-off, jealous looks.

"I used to, I stopped a few years ago."

Roxas tilted his head to the side, "Why?" Maybe it was the thrill of pulling of a move, and saving a girl from probable-death, but Roxas was slow to pick up on the edge in her tone.

"I broke my leg, and I didn't pick it up after that."

"That's a shame," he shrugged. "Are you new here? I've never seen you around before."

They both made their way to one of the unpopular quarter pipes on the outskirts of the park and sat down on the deck. Their movements were slow and easy, they built a wall around each other that shielded them from the rest of the world. Roxas could make you feel like that- like the most important person. It was one of the reasons he was so approachable, but so completely untouchable. He'd reach out for your hand, but take one step back just as he was in reach. That's what it felt like to fall in love with Roxas. Or so she'd heard.

"Relatively."

"Hollow Bastion's a beautiful place. I know it always seems like it's under construction, but I really love it here. There's an… interesting mix of people living here."

"So I've heard," Naminé laughed. "So far I've been hit on at the airport and pushed into a bowl."

"She _pushed_ you?" Roxas repeated in alarm, looking to see if those cheap sluts were still in the park. Naminé shook her head and sighed. "Anyway, why'd you come to HB?"

Before she was even aware, she was telling him the truth, because she just felt so unguarded around him. There was a time when it had always been like that around him. "I thought coming here would bring me a sense of… closure, to be completely honest, but all I can think about is friends that might not forgive me for what I've done."

"Well…" he said, scratching the back of his head and leaning back on his hands, "I think real friends would forgive you, no matter what you've done. Because if they're real friends to you, you wouldn't have done something bad to them unless there was a reason."

Naminé shook her head, leaning her elbows on her thighs, "That's just it. What if I _was_ being a selfish little bitch? What if I _was_ only thinking about myself when I did that to them, and damned the consequences?"

"Was there a reason that you were acting like that?"

"Well… I guess, but-"

"No buts," he interrupted, pressing a finger to her lips. "If they're friends, they're going to understand."

"But I changed."

"You really only change for two reasons. Either you learn enough that you want to, or you've hurt enough that you have to."

She was about to retort but paused, thought better of it, and shook her head. "Thanks."

"No problem," he smiled at her. She was completely shocked by the action, not because Roxas never smiled, but because it dawned on her in those moments just how amazing her friend was. He was willing to offer her, a total stranger, friendship advice after physically saving her life. She wasn't completely struck by his beauty, but his sheer kindness made her eyes water. She turned around and wiped them away. He had a proposition for her, "Hey, you should come to this club and meet my friends after you find yours. It's called Club Spades."

Naminé knew she would be able to get in, but she just raised her eyebrow, "Isn't that an over eighteen year's club?"

"My friend Hayner is the bartender. We'll be able to sneak you in."

"Sounds stellar."

* * *

**& bgm: **cont.

Naminé was in her old room, finishing up the details of her outfit. Looping a dozen necklaces and positioning them in the mirror took up most of her attention and failed to alert her to her mother's presence. Naminé wondered if she had anything to say about Naminé's outfit, which was somewhat scandalous.

She was wearing a long black singlet as an incredibly short dress, which draped from the chest and synched at her waist. She'd put on fishnet stockings to give her a particularly edgy look, complimenting them with a cropped leather jacket and peep-toe ankle boots.

Her mom pursed her lips and she thought she was about to complain about her being too revealing or something, but she surprised her by saying, "Naminé dear, I don't think you should tie your hair up. It's perfectly lovely the way it is."

"Aww, thanks Mom," she turned around to give her a hug. "You're not going to say anything about what a total tramp I look like?"

"Honey, this isn't as bad as what hookers are wearing nowadays. It looks sexy on you!" Naminé rolled her eyes. "Is that not what parents are so supposed to say?"

"Don't worry about it. I've seriously got the coolest parents in the world."

"But don't do drugs, and if you're going to drink, no more than two cups!" she insisted.

"Okay, Mom."

"Oh! I just remembered something." Cindy went back to her room and came back with something in her hand. "I borrowed this on my trip to Africa a few months ago, but it's yours."

When she opened her hand, Naminé was shocked to see a familiar hemp bracelet she hadn't seen in years.

_Vanitas…_

She never realised it before, but she _desperately_ wanted to see what Vanitas looked like now. She grabbed the bracelet and put it on, tightening it a little bit so it wouldn't fall to her knuckles. It was a little worn, but still beautiful. "Thanks, Mom."

"Have fun, sweetie!"

Naminé walked to Club Spades wondering what the night had in store for her. The opening of the club wasn't the most spectacular of entrances, but there was a large flashing neon sign that had a deck of cards repeatedly being shuffled, and it looked kind of spectacular. She was about to start lining up when Roxas and Ventus passed her and caught site of her.

"Don't be stupid," Roxas grinned, grabbing her wrist and bringing her up to the doorman. "'Sup Lexaus?" They let themselves in and the towering giant of a man didn't do anything to stop them. The music was blaring loudly, some techno electric trance formula that served well for the mosh pit on the deck-themed graffiti floor.

"So you're the mystery girl I've heard so much about," Ventus said, offering his hand. "I'm Ventus- Ven, Roxas' brother."

"I could tell, you're twins," she reassured.

"What?!" Roxas said in surprise. "No! Really?"

"Mom should have told us!" Ven responded.

"I feel duped."

"Cheated."

"Hoodwinked!"

Naminé laughed at their antics. Growing up with both boys, she'd learned to tell them apart. Roxas' eyes were darker, and his voice was a little lower and raspier too. Ventus' hair was always messier, and his clothed himself normally while Roxas' wardrobe was a little more edgy. Their personalities were different too, Roxas was more reserved while Ven was a ball of sunshine. Sure, telling them apart was hard, especially since they opted for the same hairstyle, but she'd learnt to over time.

"What's your name?" Ventus asked her.

"Um…" she didn't want to reveal herself yet. Probably better to lie. "You can call me Wave."

"That's pretty."

They made their way over to the bar, where Hayner was serving drinks. She was surprised by how different he looked. He used to have fairly long hair, but had cut it down. It was still gelled though. His warm brown eyes hadn't changed much.

"Hey, Hayner. This is Wave. She'll have a paopu margarita."

"A what?"

"It's the best drink on the menu, Club Spades is famous for it," Roxas explained. "Apparently you're supposed to share it with someone special and it will bind your destinies forever."

"Awesome. You'll share it with me then?" Naminé asked him.

Roxas flushed and scratched the back of his neck nervously. "S-sure."

Ven slipped between them and said, "We're waiting her until Hayner finishes his shift and Vani shows- you know him, always fashionably late. Then we're heading to Crystal Fissures."

"Vani?"

"Ventus' best friend, Vanitas Nocte. He's... kind of a jerk."

"No he's not." Ventus stuck his tongue out. "Roxas and Vanitas have just never gotten along. I think Roxas just likes to start fights. You don't like Riku. You dislike Seifer. You just like adding people to the blacklist."

"Riku is a pretentious prick and Seifer is an arrogant asshole."

"Oh my god, you just insulted in alliteration," Ventus giggled.

"Fucking fabulous," Roxas laughed.

Over the course of the next half hour more people that she knew started to file in; Olette, Pence, Sora, Kairi, Riku and… holy shit.

"Why is Xion here?" Roxas murmured.

"Riku said he wouldn't come if his girlfriend didn't."

"Why didn't you _warn_ anyone?" Hayner butted in. "I think we've made it perfectly clear that we don't _like_ her. Remember the way that she used to treat Naminé?"

Said blond was completely shocked that he'd said her name. She was both flattered and put at ease that they still spoke of her.

"Yeah, she was the reason she moved away. We have absolutely no idea where she is right now because of Xion."

"Aww, c'mon man," Ventus reasoned. "Xion's mellowed down in the last year. You've got to give her the benefit of the doubt."

"I think I did enough of that as a child…"

"Guys!" Ven ushered them over to the bar where Roxas and Naminé had been sharing the potion. "This is Wave, say hi."

"Hi Wave," they droned, but they were smiling, so they were obviously trying to make it sound like an intervention on purpose.

"She can pull of a three-sixty pop shove-it," Roxas offered. That broke the ice for them. Sora skated, so he naturally started asking her about skating, and Riku butted in every now and then. She was surprised by how friendly they were, and how willing they were to accept her into their friend group. It wasn't until Kairi spoke that she figured out why.

"You remind me of a friend…" she admitted.

"Can you really call her a friend?" Xion butted in. "Once you found out she was bi you started to avoid her like the plague."

Naminé's skin prickled and she narrowed her eyes at the black-haired menace. Before she could say anything, Olette stood up for her, "And whose fault was that? You were the one spreading nasty rumours about how she wanted to jump everyone when we were changing in PE."

"I meant no ill will," Kairi said, just loud enough for everyone to hear. "I mean, if Naminé hadn't come out, I probably wouldn't have realised that I'm bi too."

That was a surprise. She tried to cover it up by scooping up her drink and taking another sip. The burn of the alcohol was overcome with a sweet flavour that was oddly refreshing. She crossed one leg over the other, trying to take in as much information as she could. All of her friends had changed in small subtle ways and it was kind of screwing with her mind. She was tempted to all just correct them and tell them that it was Naminé they'd been speaking to all this time.

When she looked up from her drink she was completely blown away. The most gorgeous human being to ever grace the face of the planet was standing before her. She recognised him as Vanitas instantly.

She knew no one with eyes quite like Vanitas'.

He was wearing ripped black skinny jeans, a striped tank top, a studded leather jacket and worn black combat boots. She let out a shaky breath. He'd always been amazing but having been away from him for two years, she now found herself catching her breath at his handsome features; pale skin, angular features, wicked smile, and brilliant eyes.

"Vani!" Ventus skipped forward to tackle his friend in a hug. Vanitas growled and pushed him off, Ven was undeterred though. "We can finally leave now. Oh, and this is Wave. Wave, say hi!"

"Hello," Naminé said, getting up and walking over to him. "I guess your Vanitas?"

Vanitas looked down when he shook her hand, and for a second she thought that he might have been checking her out before he smirked and nodded. "Waves huh? Nice to meet you."

After they exited the club, they all piled into Hayner's van and started heading to Crystal Fissures, a popular hang out by risqué teenagers. Naminé was squeezed between Roxas and Kairi, pretty much forced to hook her knee over his so Riku could sit on the floor between her and Kairi.

"So how did you and Roxas meet?" Sora asked her.

"He saved me from falling into one of the bowls at the skate park. It was kind of embarrassing."

"Could you believe it? Someone pushed her."

"I can believe it," Xion growled.

Naminé laughed humourlessly as a response. "You're such a tight-knit group."

"We all go to the same school," Olette explained. "Rising Falls Academy. Where do you go?"

"Dark City Prep."

"I heard that school's hard to get into," Riku admitted.

"Obviously not that hard," Xion murmured. Sora elbowed her in the side and Naminé forgot about her.

"Well, everyone here except Riku and Vanitas go."

She knew Riku would be either having a gap year, working or going to college right now, but that didn't explain why Vanitas wasn't going to Rising Falls Academy. Maybe he'd moved schools? Naminé was kind of disappointed, that meant that she wouldn't be able to see him in senior year.

When they arrived in Crystal Fissures, they hiked through the maze of giant blue rocks, using their phones as flashlights that glinted off the beautiful walls. She'd remembered playing here when she was a child. They stopped when they came across a used fire pit and Xion offered her lighter to light it up. Hayner and Olette were lugging some alcohol from the van and they opened an unlabelled bottle and started sharing it around.

"Let's play a game!" Hayner suggested. "Has anyone played 'Green Glass Door'?"

Naminé knew about this game, her roommate had played it with her friends while she was pretending to sleep. But technically she hadn't _played_ it before.

"No," most of them replied.

"Awesome! Then let's play: you have to name something that you can take through the green glass door. If you're wrong, then you have to take a drink."

"What? That's it?" Ven asked.

"Yep! Alright, let's go in a circle. Rox, you first."

"Um… glass?"

"That's kind of cheating, but yes. Riku, you're up."

"Cards?"

"Nope, drink! Once you've had three drinks, you're out of the game."

"…Penguins?" Xion asked.

"No. Drink."

Kairi really thought about her answer. "Coffee?"

"Yes. You're safe."

Naminé already knew the rules, she was going to win. "Balls."

"Yes."

Ven looked really confused, and it was cute. "Um… rocks?"

"Nope!" Hayner said triumphantly.

Vanitas drummed his fingers on his knee before saying, "Books?"

"Yes."

"Pence?"

"Camera?"

"No! Drink."

And it went on like that until only Roxas, Ventus, Vanitas and Naminé were in the circle.

"Carrot," she said.

"Yep!"

"Um… Dingo?" Ven said.

"No, you're out Ven."

"Dammit!"

Hayner and Naminé giggled, and that's when he realised something. "Hey! You know the rules!"

Naminé shrugged, "Well, technically, I've never played this game before, but yeah, I do know them."

"Stop playing then!" Xion snarked.

"No, keep her in," Roxas said, "I'm still trying to figure out what can be taken through the doors."

It was Vanitas' turn, "… Daggers?"

"Yep!"

His eyes widened for a fraction of a second before he realised what the rules were. He affirmed this by giving Naminé a huge smirk.

"Okay…" Roxas said, "… Cups?"

"Nope! You're out Roxas."

"Shit, I don't know the rules yet."

"Just you and Vanitas now, Waves."

"Glitter."

"Yep."

"Hammer."

"Yes."

"Ladder."

"Uh huh."

"Pizza."

Roxas made an 'oh' noise before saying, "I've got it now!"

"Me too!" Ven said, "You can only take in words that have double letters!"

"That's right!" Hayner grinned. "Waves and Vanitas win!"

"Cool," he said, giving Naminé a high-five.

"Let's play another game," Olette suggested.

"Make it a raunchy one," Xion said, "this one was a little boring."

_Just because you weren't smart enough to figure out the rules,_ Naminé thought sourly.

"Let's play Sausage!" Sora said excitedly, bouncing up and down in his spot.

"You're the worst at Sausage," Riku grinned at him.

"But it's fun!" Ventus defended him.

"Okay, we'll play. What's the word this time?"

"Start with 'sausage'," Pence laughed.

"Technically, you should already be disqualified," Kairi said to him. She got up and got a beer for everyone, passing them around the circle before saying, "I nominate Sora as the first victim."

"Wait a second, how do you play?" Naminé asked them.

"Oh my god, it's the best game in the history of drinking games," Hayner said to her. "Alright, the answer to every question is sausage. If Sora doesn't laugh, then we all have to take a sip. If he laughs, he's out of the game and the next person is nominated as the next answering machine."

"Sounds simple enough."

"Alright, let the games begin, Hayner, you're up."

"Sora, what do you like to put in your mouth?"

Sora clamped his hands over his mouth, barely suppressing his laughter as he said, "S-sausage."

"He's going to fail soon."

"Shut up!" Sora growled playfully as everyone took a sip of their beer.

"Sora, what do you like to ride like a bitch?"

Sora couldn't help it, and started laughing like a lunatic. Hayner and Pence shuffled in front of him to kick him out of the circle. Hayner lasted for two questions.

"Roxas, your word is '50 Shades of Grey'."

"Oh my god, that's not fair," he moaned, massaging his cheeks.

"What book do you live by?" Riku asked him.

"50 Shades of Grey."

Xion was next, "What do you fantasise about at night?"

Roxas bit his lip, obviously having trouble supressing the laughter already. "50 Shades of Grey."

Kairi was laughing as she asked her question, "What's the most thought provoking and inspiring book you've ever read?"

Roxas' face split into an amazing grin as he let out a small snort, "50 Shades of Grey."

Finally, it was Naminé's turn, she already had hers ready, "What will you read to your children before bed time?"

He couldn't help it anymore, he started giggling uncontrollably and started leaning on Hayner for support. He was pushed out of the circle.

Riku lasted eighteen. Xion lasted for ten. Kairi for five. When it was Naminé's turn, they reached the half point and everyone was let back into the game, which wasn't really fair, but everyone was getting really drunk by now, they were starting to laugh at really dumb things. She lasted for thirteen questions. Ventus lasted six.

When it was Vanitas' turn Riku groaned. "Oh god, we are going to get _so _drunk."

Ventus laughed, "Vani is the king of keeping composure."

"Your word is… 'buttsex'."

"Oh Jesus."

"What do you whisper in a quiet elevator?"

"Buttsex."

"How'd you lose your virginity?"

"Buttsex."

"What's the only thing you can think of while watching Glee?"

Twenty questions later and they had Vanitas smiling rather cutely. The alcohol was starting to affect him, but it wasn't until Kairi asked her question did it look like he was going to crack.

"What are the hills alive with the sound of?" she asked, giggling herself.

"Buttsex," he snorted, covering his mouth. She loved the way his amber eyes lit up with child-like amusement. He looked so alluring then.

"What's the best thing about One Direction?" Vanitas looked down and slowly his shoulders started to shake. She knew she'd finally managed to crack his exterior.

"Vanitas lost! And it took twenty-five questions to do it," Ventus announced.

"Okay! You know what would be an awesome game to play, now that we're all drunk?" Pence suggested, "Hide & Seek!"

"That's boring," Xion complained.

"Fine, we'll make it interesting." Ven said, "Everyone, take off an item of clothing and twenty bucks. Winner takes all, _and _they get to ask one favour of everyone who loses."

"Oh my god, better idea!" Sora declared, "How about the first person found owes the last person found _nine_ favours. The second person owes the last person _eight _favours, and so on, so forth."

"Awesome idea, let's stick with that," Olette agreed.

Naminé shrugged and proceeded to take off her fishnet stockings. Guys either removed their shirt or their shorts. Kairi and Olette removed their shoes while Xion took of her bra. Jesus.

* * *

**& bgm: **_Blurred Lines ft. Pharrell Williams & T.I. - _Robin Thicke

Ventus was 'it', and so the rest of them proceeded to run away as fast as they could in search of the perfect hiding spot. They had one hundred Mississippi's to go. Naminé hadn't been to Crystal Fissures since she was a child, and thus had trouble finding the best spot. She saw Kairi and Sora run into an area of reflective glass, so they'd be hard to find. She saw Riku and Sora starting to climb the crystal and Pence, Olette and Hayner sneaking into some old ruins to hide. She had no idea where Vanitas was. She could hear Ven's counting off in the distance and she was about to run out of time when she came across the chasm. She remembered there was a ledge somewhere around here, and so she carefully pulled herself over the edge and dropped down, only to land centimetres away from Vanitas.

"Oh my g-!" she was about to fall into the chasm, if Vanitas hadn't gripped her arm and pulled her towards the face of the cliff in time.

"Holy shit. You could have fallen," he whispered loudly.

"I wasn't expecting someone else to be here," she admitted clumsily, sliding down the cliff face, pressing her back against the rock.

"Turn your phone to silent so it doesn't make noise."

"Wow," she grinned, "you really want to win."

"I'm not sure about the clothing, or the money, but having an I.O.U. on everyone here can definitely be useful."

They sat in silence for about five minutes, the only sound they heard was a faint whisper of Ventus mumbling to himself from a distance. About fifteen minutes into the game Vanitas got tired and pulled out a packet of cigarettes from his jacket. She noticed when he opened it that he wasn't wearing his shirt, and there was a perfect view of his abs. A ripple of pleasure went through her as she eyed them, but Vanitas mistook it for her looking at the cigarettes.

"Do you want one?"

She was overwhelmed with a sense of self-consciousness and nodded her head, despite never having smoked before. Vanitas blew out a steady stream as he lit hers on fire and she hesitantly brought it to her lips. After sucking it in the first time she coughed violently, the sound echoing in the chasm.

"Did you hear that?!" said Riku.

"Yeah, I did!" Ventus said, and steadily their footsteps drew closer. Vanitas and Naminé stopped breathing.

"I don't see them."

"Alright, let's find Xion or Hayner."

Naminé let out another breath, followed by another cough. She pressed her tongue to the roof of her mouth to regulate some more saliva and soothed her burning throat. The second time she took a drag, she managed to hold it in a little longer before breathing out.

Vanitas pressed the back of his head to the edge of the cliff, closing his amber eyes peacefully. She couldn't help but look over and watch the smooth column of his neck, the slight bend of his Adam's apple, adore that creamy skin.

"So, why are you back in Hollow Bastion?" he asked her, his silken voice unaffected by the smoke surrounding them. She just realised that if the others smelt the cigarette smoke, they would have been able to find them easily.

"Back?" she repeated. _Oh no. Vanitas has figured me out?!_

"Well, if you knew where this ledge was, then you've probably been here before, right?"

"…Yeah. I came back for my Mom's birthday."

"I don't know how you can stand being here. People here are so fake. I'd rather be in Dark City."

This time she managed to execute a sigh without coughing, and she fiddled with the cigarette between her fingers, loving the bright glow at the end of it. "What do you expect? This is a fashion capital, there's always going to be people obsessed with their image."

"I know, it's how people fall in love. Face first, personality second."

"Not true," she shook her head.

"Oh yeah? Do you know anyone in love that wasn't entranced by the looks first?"

"I…" she was about to say that the first thing she noticed about Vanitas _was_ his personality before his looks.

_"Vanitas… Thank you, for not ripping up my invitation."_

"See?"

She pressed her head to the cliff face, "I guess you're right in some sense. But I know I'm going to fall in love with the first person who can recognise who I am, without hearing my voice, or seeing my face."

"That's a pretty concept," Vanitas admitted, shrugging one of his shoulders. "I don't want to fall in love. The dependency on someone else to provide you happiness seems ridiculous."

"You must be fun at parties."

He let out a raspy laugh, leaning over so his head rested on her shoulder. He blew out some smoke rings, a pretty cool feat in her eyes.

"I believe love and like are varying degrees of tolerance. Hating someone and aching for someone are two different sides of the same spectrum." She murmured, stretching out her hand. "I do believe you're giving up some independence when you fall in love, because everything isn't calculable, or certain."

"Expectation is the route of all heartache," Vanitas recited.

"How many times do you break before you shatter?" she replied.

"Nice," he nodded his head.

She pressed her lips to the cigarette, taking in one last drag before flicking it into the chasm. Naminé loved this, sitting in a really cool hiding spot, wearing awesome clothes, next to a really awesome person. Vanitas' hair might have looked spiky and threatening, but on her skin it felt soft and fluffy.

"You know," he murmured, "we should get a drink."

"Yeah? We'd swap some funny stories…"

"See if we have similar tastes and interests."

She chuckled, "Overcome some emotional hurdles."

"Fight a lot!"

"'What do you think you're _doing,_ asshole?!'" she asked, a rhetorical question of course. Van picked up quickly.

"'I-I'm sorry, baby. I didn't know we were exclusive, and she had such a huge rack! It won't happen again!'" he replied, pressing his lips to her shoulder. She tried to ignore the flush slowly creeping up her neck.

"We'll make up and before you know it, I'd have trapped you in a committed relationship," she sighed.

"That would be the conventional way to go about it," he laughed softly, his voice like velvet.

"The thing is…" she murmured, "I'm already drunk as all fuck."

"Well then I guess we should just skip the rest of it and get right down to the sex." Before she even knew what was happening he had her pinned down by the arms, straddling her stomach and giving her a questioning glance. She was going over the consequences in her head.

_Vanitas doesn't go to Rising Falls. I don't know when the next time I'll see him will be. Plus, I'll get to lose my virginity to one of the hottest boys I've ever known._

But you really should wait to see if you're in love yet.

_But you're already aroused, and he _wants_ to fuck you! How flattering and amazing is it that sexy, gorgeous Vanitas wants to sleep with plain, ugly little Naminé? When are you ever going to get this chance again?_

"But… what's there to like about me anyway?"

"I like your smile…" he admitted. "It's the kind of smile that says 'You don't know me, and you never will.'"

Naminé gulped and nodded, gasping when Vanitas leant down to kiss her neck. His kisses were warm –no- searing, and when he pressed his lips to hers, her brain became foggy and cloudy. She was a complete amateur, and he was devouring her virgin lips with a rough, tribal dance. He pulled off his jacket, exposing his muscled arms and toned torso and placed it on the ground. He positioned Naminé so that she was lying on the jacket. The ground wasn't that hard to begin with, but she found herself arching to press her body to his.

She ran her fingers down his torso, shuddering underneath him, his lips catching on hers between her staggered, laboured breaths. Her skin was reaching a feverish temperature as he settled between her thighs, brushing his lips against her collarbone. Vanitas' hands were warm and reassuring as he slid her clothing down, pushing up her dress. Her hands gripped his shoulder blade with shaking hands and pressed her nails into the skin as he joined them as one.

The blond bit her lips until they bled, Vanitas leaning down to lick the substance away, his passion increasing as she dragged her fingernails down his back. She tightened her legs and moaned breathlessly as their union slowly started to reach climax. She couldn't believe this incredible pleasure, her skin sparking, her nerves igniting, cold sweat and heat mingling together in a medley of glorious sensations. The goal was to stay as quiet as possible. They weren't very loud, only a staggered breath and a barely-there moan between them that built up into a crescendo of animalistic heat. Out of absolutely nowhere she was flooded with an overwhelming sense of euphoria, her body singing with release she couldn't completely muffle into the crook of Vanitas' neck.

She was already in the midst of a beautiful afterglow when she saw Vanitas through to his happy ending, panting softly against his skin. He lay down on the ground next to her, his chest rising and falling gently, interlacing their fingers together. His eyes looked beautiful in the moonlight. She watched them trail down her arm, to land on her wrist. When his eyes landed on her bracelet she was sure he was going to remember that she was –in fact- Naminé, but he simply overlooked it to reach for his vibrating phone.

Vanitas read it and laughed.

"What does it say?" Naminé muttered, her voice a little hoarse.

"'We give up. You win'."

"Win indeed," she replied.

The both of them laughed. Little did Naminé know that she'd fallen into a Wonderland she wasn't sure she'd be able to wake up from.

* * *

**& bgm: **_Here's to Never Growing Up - _Avril Lavigne

The group was picking up their trash from around the fire pit when Vanitas and Naminé returned from the edge of the cliff.

"Where the hell did both of you hide?" Sora demanded, wrapping an arm around Naminé's neck. "I mean, we were ready to scour the rest of Hollow Bastion and we're still sure we wouldn't have found you."

"A magician never reveals his secrets," Vanitas said, pulling himself free of Sora. "So who was found first?"

"Riku," Ventus answered. "Turns out hiding in a dark place isn't that easy when you have silver hair."

"Yeah, yeah," he moaned. "I owe Vanitas nine favours."

Ventus mulled it over before saying, "And then it went Xion, Roxas, Olette, Hayner, Sora, Pence, Kairi and then Hayner."

"You're all my bitches now," Vanitas smiled evily, and Naminé let out a loose giggle. "But seriously, Xion, put your bra back on. It's cold." Xion covered her breasts (tiny) with her hands and let out an irritated huff. The black-haired boy waved at the other pieces of clothing and said, "You guys can put the rest of your clothes on too. I don't need them, and I don't think Wave really minds. Come here though, we can split the two-twenty. Sixty bucks each, what a haul. C'mon guys, let's go sober up."

"Where are we going?"

"We can walk to the Fountain Court from here."

"What's the Fountain Court?"

"It's just a bunch of fountains," Roxas answered her. But that wasn't the impression that Naminé received when she saw them. These fountains were gorgeous, stacked one on top of the other in a stepping stone manner, a lighted pool of water so that the waterfalls went from pink to violet to blue. It had to be three am or something, but the place was deserted.

"Every three hours or so, the waterworks show starts, and it should be right about…"

The light beneath the water went off, and then it was suddenly lit again, the fountain lighting up and spouting water to the heavens. Streams of water started dancing around and the more colourful it became, the closer they got to edge of the pool. Naminé had no idea who started it, but Sora completely lost his balance (he claimed someone 'pushed' him) and took the arms of Kairi and Riku with him as they fell into the pools. Hayner started laughing at them, soaking wet, and Riku pulled him in to teach him a lesson. Pence and Olette started bawling in laughter, so Hayner pulled them in too. Riku pulled in Xion for shits and giggles, but Ventus jumped in on purpose, taking Vanitas and Naminé with them.

The eleven teenagers were absolutely soaking wet now, but they didn't care, save for Xion maybe. They were having so much fun. They splashed each other and dunked one another under the water, chasing each other through the rippling pool. Naminé was lost in a world of colour, sensation and happiness, and in the midst of that confusion Vanitas reached for her chin and kissed her under the arc of fountain spray, igniting all of her senses once more. It was the most beautiful dream.

Unfortunately, every dream ends.

The following day Naminé was forced to go back to Dark City to live out the rest of her year, keeping the memory of this night close to her heart to warm her on cold, lonely nights. She left no phone number, no address, and no way of contact. She could survive another six months without their worried pleas.

She'd meet them again and her time would come.

* * *

**tbc.**

_Oh my god. So long. So yeah. Chapter two. The next one is present time, I promise! Please leave a review and don't forget to check out Naminé's outfit/house in the links on my profile. Just go to __**Linkage**__ and click on the one you want to see. _

_I hope you enjoyed the chapter!_

_kacey._

**_last revision: _**_12th July, 2013_


	3. Settle In

**_a/n:_**_ So much thanks for Guest (1), Kitsune Ayanne, Flying By Wire, Ka-tay's mind, Crystalwaters,_ _Lightlover, decemberStars, Guest (2), Guest (3) & Astral Thatcher for reviewing the last chapter. _

_I apologise profusely for this chapter. It just wasn't coming together like I'd hoped. The first scene was the bloody hardest. This is my fourth fucking attempt._

**_props to:_**_ PewDiePie, zackisontumblr & Cassandra Clare._

_As always, pictures of Naminé's outfit are available through the __**linkage**__ link on my profile._

**_the blurb before 02/06/13: _**_She was the girl they teased for being ugly and awkward. Now she's back, stunning and beautiful- ready for revenge. "There is no exquisite beauty... without some strangeness in the proportion." -E.A.P._

* * *

**& bgm: **_I Hate You, Don't Leave Me - _Demi Lovato

**Drown**

When Naminé thought of roommates, her automatic associations were people you had to clean up after, deal with late rent money, and constantly zone out because of terrible music blaring at some unconventional hour while they were working on an assignment due three hours later. The idea that two people without blood relations could peacefully coexist in a confined space was absolutely ridiculous to her. She hadn't realised how against she was getting a roommate until it was too late of course. Getting said roommate was a means to an end, and she just had to grim and bear it, wearing the smile that conveyed hatred and 'welcome' at the same time.

It was originally Ansem that was supposed to pick out her roommate, but Naminé insisted that it was a better idea that _she_ choose, after all, she was the one that was going to have to deal with them. The fliers were all labelled with 'Call Ansem' so they were going to be very confused when they saw a seventeen year old girl hosting them instead of whatever image came to mind when you heard the name 'Ansem'. Personally, she wasn't worried about no one liking the apartment, but what kind of person needed one.

The loft/penthouse thing was a beautiful piece of work, customised to Naminé's exact need and taste. The mostly white apartment was sectioned off into sections. Upstairs was Naminé's room and the bathroom. Downstairs consisted of the entrance to the extra room, a small circular library, a trendy lounge room, the kitchen and Naminé's new art studio. Honestly, she couldn't have asked for something better, even if it did feel a little impersonal at the moment. She knew that was because she hadn't been here long enough.

There was one person coming today and the details had been spoken about between Ansem and the prospective roommate, so she had absolutely no idea about what to expect. In preparation for the showing… or whatever you called a situation where you toured a possible roommate around your shiny new apartment, she'd dressed prettily but comfortably, wearing a long stripy grey-black tank-top as a dress, cinched at the waist with a chain belt, sheer stockings and a comfortable pair of light grey combat boots.

But even so, she was completely unprepared when Roxas and Sora appeared at her door.

"Christ…" was her instant reaction.

"Oh my god. Wave! Hi!" Sora lunged forward, wrapping his lanky monkey arms around her in an awkward hug. She blinked at Roxas over his shoulder, taking in his completely gobsmacked expression. There was a terrible moment of silence after he pulled away where she just stared at the both of them, forgetting that the polite thing would be to let them inside.

"Wow. Wave, what are you doing here?" Roxas asked her, tilting his head to the side cutely. "We haven't seen you for almost a year."

"I know!" Naminé replied, her words clambering together clumsily. She was at a loss of words. Sora and Roxas both gave her expectant looks and she remembered her manners, "Oh! Come in. Stupid me."

She watched as the both of them surveyed the apartment, eyes going wide when they realised how trendy and chic the place was. She knew that the rent was a lot cheaper than one would assume, especially with being on this side of Hollow Bastion.

"This place is amazing!" Sora exclaimed. His eyes were cast in the direction of the black spiral staircase leading to Naminé's room.

"Are we in the right apartment?" Roxas asked Naminé, pointing to a scrunched up flyer in his hands. Naminé nodded her head, but he just looked even more confused than before. She didn't like where this was going. "It's just that- it says Ansem d'Blanc here, and we were hoping to get a hold of him. He's the father of one of our close friends, and we were hoping to ask him where she was. He didn't seem to have enough time to answer my questions on the phone."

Naminé tilted her head to the side, wrapping a strand of hair around a finger and tugging on it loosely, "Does that mean you're not here for the apartment?"

"Oh no," Sora said, butting in, "Roxas here is looking for a place to stay as well, but that was only half the reason we came today."

"Why are _you_ here?"

Naminé bit her lip, wondering how she was going to phrase her next sentences carefully.

"I have to be honest; my real name isn't Wave."

"Mind blown! Why didn't you tell us your real name?"

She looked down as she said, "My real name happens to be the Japanese _translation_ of wave."

Roxas was the first to catch on, "But that's… 'nami'."

"Naminé!" Sora exclaimed loudly, pouncing on her again in a suffocating hug. He twirled her around like a ragdoll, surprising her with his strength, but when she was set down again, Roxas was looking at her with a deep set frown.

"Why didn't you tell us you were Naminé?" he muttered. The apartment was quiet enough that he didn't need to raise his voice to be heard. The tension was thick enough to slice. She felt jitters running up and down her skin as she tried to form an excuse, a reason, anything to avoid his judgemental stare.

"Don't you remember, Roxas?" she asked, her eyes turning from warm blue to cold steel. "I've already told you this. I poured my heart out as someone else, that day we met at the skate park."

Sora looked between the both of them, a painfully confused expression adorning his features. He could probably sense the tension between the both of them, but was too dense to really accept the atmosphere, "What did she say, Rox?"

There were several moments of intense silence before Naminé said, "I said I was afraid my friends weren't going to forgive me for what I'd done to them."

"But Naminé, you haven't done anything to us," Sora said.

"Yes I did. I fell off the face of the planet, without any warning or word to leave behind. I felt so alone, and because of that, I left behind all means of contact instead of speaking to you like I should have." Naminé looked down, her sadness conveyed in body language; slumped shoulders, pigeon feet, bent figure. She didn't want to feel this bad. How was she going to speak to the rest of her friends when speaking to some of the nicest boys was already this hard? "Just know that I'm _really_ sorry for that, and I promise to never do it again."

"Well then," Roxas said, his eyes softening as he walked up to her and placed his hands on her shoulders, "there's nothing to forgive then, is there?"

"Really?" she asked, turning from Roxas to Sora, who was smiling as well. "You mean it?"

"We hate seeing you sad, Naminé. You did enough of that during elementary school, didn't you?"

"Thanks guys," she said, wiping away a tear. "I really appreciate it."

"But honestly, what the hell happened to you? Who came and beat you with a sexy stick?" Sora inquired, quite astonished with her look.

Roxas stepped back, looking her up and down, "At least now your outside is a beautiful as your inside. I can't really see Xion bullying you now that you look like a supermodel."

She smiled at the compliments, pressing both her hands to her cheek as she looked away bashfully, "Thank you."

"So why are you back in Hollow Bastion?"

"Why do you think? I'm coming back for final year."

"Seriously?!" the both of them exclaimed.

"Awesome!" Sora said. "So does that mean it's alright to tell the others you're here?"

"Yeah! Go ahead."

Roxas placed a hand in his pocket, gesturing with his other one, "So about the apartment. It's really only one-fifty a fortnight?"

"Yep," she said, eyeing Sora who was now texting everyone on his phone, "you're not really paying for half the price, like normal roomies would. You also pay for half the groceries, but you get free wi-fi."

"Sounds awesome."

"But you _are_ going to need to conform to a lot of weird rules that I make up as I go along," Naminé smiled evily, bring the tips of her fingers together in an imitation of Mr Burns.

Roxas raised an eyebrow, a worried expression taking over his initial happiness. Sora was still speaking to someone over the phone. "Like what?"

"Well firstly, you're going to play video games with me. At least _one_ round a session."

"No problem."

"And you're going to learn how to make my tea and coffee, because I'm going to demand it of you during Shark Week," she said, ticking her points off her fingers.

"What's 'Shark Week'?" he asked innocently, and she simply laughed.

"You'll find out soon enough. The other rules are you have to cook with me -because I suck at cooking- so any help is an improvement, stay away from my green liquorice, keep any place that isn't your bedroom clean, and if you're bringing anyone home warn me first so that I can rent a hotel or something."

Roxas scoffed, "Yeah right. I'm perpetually alone."

She raised an eyebrow, "And is that why you need a roommate?"

"Kind of," he said. "My mom's moving back to Twilight Town, Ventus is rooming with Vanitas, Cloud is rooming with his boyfriend, Leon. So I'm going to be alone and homeless if I don't land this place."

"Well," she smiled, feigning reluctance, "I suppose, because it's the right thing to do, that I can let you stay here."

"Awesome."

"Most important rule though…" Naminé looked Roxas right in the eyes as she stated very seriously, "Don't fall in love with me."

After a heartbeat and a half, plus a rather unconvinced noise, he nodded and said, "Fine."

* * *

**& bgm: **_We R Who We R - _Ke$ha

"So, you've been invited to a party," Sora said to her, as she closed the apartment door behind the both of them. They were going to Roxas' house to get his things so he could move in right away.

"I haven't been here two days yet and I've been invited to a party?" she crossed her hands over her chest, "I'm pretty pimpin', huh?"

Roxas rolled his eyes while Sora laughed, "The party's on the rooftop of Kairi's apartment building. Xion is attending, so you're going to have to watch out."

"I thought Xion mellowed out," Naminé groaned.

"Well, for like, three weeks, and then she was back to her bitchy old self again," Roxas said.

"Aww, c'mon guys."

"Shut up, Sora. You're obligated to like her because she's your cousin."

"One more comment and I'm going to assume its incest."

"Ew, Nami. Gross."

"Wait a second…" Roxas muttered. "Doesn't Kairi room in the same building as Naminé?"

"Oh, wow, you're right!"

"Well, it looks like I'll be stopping off at your place before the party starts, huh?"

Roxas' house looked as it always had- a small little run-down place at the edge of Hollow Bastion. His mother was the same welcoming woman that she had always been as well. Roxas' mother's name was Ginger, and although she was indeed a red-head, her three sons had somehow all turned out blond. It must have been strong genes from their father.

"Oh Roxas, you're back. Hello Sora!" she reached forward to give Sora a hug, ushering Roxas in when she noticed that Naminé was standing in the doorway too. Her eyes widened when she saw her, and looked from Naminé to Roxas in confusion. "Roxas!" she whisper-yelled. "Who is this stunningly beautiful girl you've brought with you?" Naminé laughed, covering her mouth with her hand, muffling the giggles. The short woman started clapping in glee, "Is she your _girlfriend?_"

"Mom," he groaned. "Stop embarrassing me."

"Oh, sweetie, I don't have much time to embarrass you, so I'm going to try darn hardest!" his mother fist-pumped the air before slinging an arm over Naminé's shoulder. "Would you like to see Roxas pre-braces? Or should we go with the classic baby picture embarrassment?"

"Don't you dare!"

"Or maybe I can show you the nightlight collection he still keeps under his bed."

_"Mom!"_ he groaned.

Sora was trying to fight back giggles, as was Naminé; partly because she had yet to tell Ginger it was actually Naminé, a person who had been Roxas' friend since he was little, but mostly because Roxas had one of the coolest moms in existence.

"Oh Roxy, it's so exciting that you brought a girl home. The only other one you've ever brought over was that smart Olette girl, but it looks like you're one French fry short of a happy meal for a girl like that."

They couldn't help it, Sora and Naminé started full out bellowing. Ginger was so funny.

"Hell, maybe this pretty young thing will like you for your personality, rather than your pretty boy looks."

"Mom! Seriously…"

Ginger reached up to envelop her son in a hug, "You know I'm kidding, darling. But I really am waiting for you to bring a girl home. Or a boy! Whatever, you know? But if it's a boy you have to consider adoption, because I want to spend my golden years spoiling my grandchildren."

"Yeah, yeah."

"So, what are you two doing here?" the short woman said, addressing the both of them.

"Mom," Roxas said, gesturing towards Naminé. "This girl happens to be my new roommate. We're here to fetch my stuff."

"Oh, I thought that your roommate would be… male."

"So did I."

"Roxas," she tugged on her son's shirt and ushered him further away, "aren't you worried about how _strange_ things will get between two members of the opposite sex?"

"Honestly, Mom. She's Naminé."

Ginger's eyes widened to an obscene, plate-shape size as her head snapped in Naminé's direction, looking her up and down once again, _"Naminé?!"_ Suddenly, Ginger –with the speed of a leopard on fire- teleported in front of Naminé and pushed her bangs out of her eyes. "Oh my God! It _is_ you!"

So, she guessed she was going to have to get used to this reaction.

"Roxas! Sweep this girl off her feet before she lands a boyfriend." The three teenagers started laughing with his mother as she inspected Naminé further, "Well, don't you look as pretty as a button. Your dress is a little short though."

"Thanks, Ginger."

"Roxas, you have a chance with Naminé, because she's known you for more than a year and hasn't thrown rocks at your head, or tried to drown you in the toilet yet."

"I'm never going to live this down, am I?" he said to no one in particular.

"You'll take care of my Roxas, won't you?" she asked, wide blue eyes pleading. "Pet him. Feed him. Occasionally take him for walks?"

Roxas face-palmed himself. Sora doubled over in laughter.

"Hear that Roxas?" Naminé's smile was completely maniacal, "I've got to get you a collar and a leash."

"Why, Nami, I didn't know you were into that kind of thing," he replied, wiggling his eyebrows.

Naminé started cracking up, her eyes closing with absolute glee as she tried to spit out between laughs, "Roxas. Your mom is _right there!_"

"Oh trust me, Darlin', there are worse things you can try to mortify me with, but I have to admit, worrying about my youngest baby losing his virginity ain't one of them."

"MOM!"

Roxas was now an unhealthy shade of strawberry, so Ginger finally got the message and patted his head, even though the act looked obscene because of their major height difference. Cloud, (whose last name was different because he carried their father's surname) Ventus and Roxas were often teased for being short, and she realised now it probably came from their mother.

"Okay, I can see I've thoroughly filled in my role as embarrassing parent. You go pack your stuff, honey."

"Thanks, I guess."

Naminé and Sora followed Roxas into his bedroom, and she was instantly hit with a wave of nostalgia. Roxas' aspiration was music and that reflected in his room; band posters (Nine Inch Nails, The Limousines, Marylin Manson, Two Door Cinema Club), two guitars (acoustic, semi-acoustic), a mix board, speakers hooked up to his computer, and manuscript papers strewn about randomly. She loved how completely devoted he was to his craft.

It made her wince a little, knowing that her father had put in an art studio specifically for her to re-ignite her passion for drawing, especially when she felt so… so useless when it came to her supposed talents. Over the course of the two years away, she'd completely stopped drawing and painting, and it felt so completely crummy for abandoning her love for petty revenge on Xion and making herself beautiful.

She tried to hide these emotions running through her head as Roxas pulled out a suitcase that was already half packed. He'd already gone through the trouble of packing his clothing in a large trunk and was now choosing which pieces of junk he needed more than the other.

"So what happened while I was gone?"

"Surely you've had more adventures than us over the past few years, Nam. What with transforming from ugly duckling to beautiful swan and all."

"Nope. Just studying and exercise. I took up parkour to get fit. My group teaches gymnastics as well."

"That's awesome!" Roxas, who was a traceur of four to five years, exclaimed. "Maybe you can join our meets this year."

"Maybe I will. But other than that, there's been nothing."

"Oh! What are your subjects for this year?" Sora asked.

"Well… I'm taking Modern History, Basic Mathematics, Music, Photography and Advanced English."

There was a long silence before Sora said, "Wait… You're _not_ taking Visual Arts?"

Another, _longer_ silence. "No."

"But… you were all about art! It was your aspiration. You said it was what kept you going all this time," Roxas said in confusion, his eyes knitting together in anguish.

_It's not my fault!_ she wanted to scream, but she bit on her lip to keep the noise from escaping. When she regained control of her tongue she breathed out and said, "I… encountered some problems. I just… I don't want to do it anymore. I can't help it. Please. I don't want to talk about it."

"Okay…" Sora said gently.

"C'mon. What have you guys been up to?"

"Well, Roxas was talent spotted last year. Twilight City's Academy of Music has their eye on him. He's just that little bit closer to becoming a music editor."

Naminé's gave Roxas an impressed look, "I thought you wanted to be a rock star? Weren't you trying to form a band when I left?"

"It was a childish aspiration, besides, thoughts of a plan disbanded when the rest of the gang decided on their careers. Axel's a special effects manager. Zexion's a literature professor. Larxene's a guidance councillor. Demyx owns the Usual Spot. When they chose their passions, there went the drummer, the backup guitarist, the backup vocalist, and our manager."

"Bummer."

"In other news, Sora said he's going to take a gap year after high school, and he's trying to convince a lot of our friends to go on a road trip after high school around the country. As for career prospective, he still wants to be the ice cream man."

"Really?" Naminé asked him.

Sora shrugged, "There are guys that want to do a lot with their lives, but I'm content to just let it be for a few years. Besides, riding around in an ice cream van sounds like fun."

"To each his own," she shrugged, now worrying if she'd gone and chosen the wrong thing to do. What if she was meant to be studying art? What if she got her mojo back halfway through the year? "So, Roxas. You can convert the art studio into a music one if you want. My dad wasn't fully informed of my mass artist block when he redesigned the place."

"Really?"

"Yeah, why not?"

"I won't need that much space."

There was that beep, beep noise and Sora went to answer his phone, jumping up and down on Roxas' bed excitedly, "Olette and Kairi want to see you. Like, right now."

"Wait a minute- did you explain the fact that I was Wave to them?" she questioned before subconsciously trying to fix her mess of platinum blond hair.

"I did. Oh look, Roxas, your Skype is opening up."

The spiky-haired blond got up and opened the chat window, revealing a slightly dishevelled Olette, who looked like she had just woken up, carting around a black stuffed kitty cat.

"Is that Edgar?" was the first thing to pop into Naminé's mouth.

_"It is!"_ Olette answered, holding the kitty up to the camera. The stuffed doll had a perpetual state of boredness about it, eyes of semi-circles that would never ever widen. Olette called it Edgar because of the Edgar Allan Poe story 'A Black Cat', which is about a cat that won't stop haunting the protagonist, even beyond death. Olette's stuffed toy was almost as old as her and had gone through many a miracle to survive to this age. _"Oh my God, Naminé, why didn't you tell us your real name a year ago? You know we would have forgiven you, right?"_

"I had no _way _of knowing that!" she defended. "For all I know, you guys could have been preparing a funeral pyre for me."

_"Now, that's a bit overdramatic."_

There was another beep on the computer from someone named 'wickedlovelyprincess'. Well, Naminé knew who that was.

Roxas accepted the request for the chat and Kairi appeared with her face very close to the camera. _"Oh, Jesus, is it working?"_

"We can see you, Kai," Sora said.

Kairi stepped back from the computer screen and smiled into it, fixing her hair before focusing her eyes on Naminé, _"So it's true, isn't it? You visited us a year ago and told us a fake name? Do you know how long I spent on Facebook trying to find any trace of you?"_

Naminé let out a lungful, "That must have been hard, considering I only told you two things; a name and a school."

_"I went through the entire roster of Dark City kids. How come I didn't see you appear?"_ Kairi demanded, blue eyes sparking with determination.

"I deleted my Facebook… And my Tumblr."

_"Why would you do that?"_ Olette and Kairi asked at the same time.

"I _don't_ know!" she snapped, tugging at her hair and giving both girls frowns. "I was being stupid and immature, and I did stupid and immature things."

_"Well, that's alright, we all make mistakes,"_ Olette sighed, tilting her head to the side.

_"As long as you _never_ do it again, do you understand me?"_ Kairi demanded. Naminé was surprised by her confident nature. She was really unused to the red-head being this assertive. It was actually turning her on a bit.

"Yeah," the blond nodded. "I'm really sorry guys."

_"Well, now that we've gotten that out of the way, what are you doing here Naminé?"_

"Guess what?" Sora said enthusiastically. Naminé decided to give the announcement to him, he seemed more excited about it than even she was, "Naminé's going to Rising Falls for final year."

Both girls let out inhumane squeals of delight, making Sora, Roxas and Naminé wince. _"Pre tell, what are you doing in Roxas' mess of a room though?"_ Olette asked.

"Roxas is packing his stuff. You know how he's been looking for a new roommate?" Sora said, collapsing onto Roxas' spinny chair to address the girls properly, instead of from his precarious position on the bed. Both girls said 'yes'. "Well, so has Naminé."

_"What?"_

_"Roxas and Naminé are going to be roommates?"_

_"How scandalous!"_ Kairi giggled.

"Oh yeah, Kairi, this is going to be near _your_ apartment," Sora said.

"Specifically, _your_ building," Roxas added.

"Specifically, the penthouse," Naminé continued.

_"Really? You guys are getting the fancy new apartment on top of Club Spades?"_

"That's it."

_"Damn you!"_ Kairi exclaimed loudly, feigning abhorrence. _"That apartment is _gorgeous. _You have to make sure you host a part before the year's over."_

"Well, yeah. That sounds like fun," Naminé agreed.

_"But for now, let's focus on mine. You're definitely coming Nam. Olette and I will come over to find out what you're wearing and to see how well Roxas is settling in."_

Her eyes widened at how bossy Kairi sounded, but she simply shrugged her shoulders and clapped her hands together, "Sounds like a plan."

_"Alright, I'm getting off now. I need to ring up Ven and Demyx and see what he's doing with their RSVPs, and organise some other stuff. Bye guys. I'll see you soon, Naminé." _Kairi winked at the camera before signing off.

_"I've got to leave too, but I'll see you within the week, that I assure you,"_ Olette smiled into the camera before turning off Skype. Sora closed down Roxas' computer and surveyed the suitcase Roxas had assembled. He was actually pretty neat for a boy.

"Okay, Sora, you can disassemble the PS3. We're going to be sending it to Ven. Naminé, can you help me take down the Mac?"

* * *

**& bgm: **shuffle playlist.

Sora took his leave right after they packed all of Roxas' stuff into his mom's car. He'd been hanging around Roxas to check out his new apartment and roommate so that he could get on good terms with them, but seeing as it was Naminé, he didn't have to do much.

"I'm probably going to meet up with Olette or Kairi tomorrow," Naminé said.

"And particular reason?" he said, loading his suitcase into the boot.

"I actually don't have much of a wardrobe- well to be more specific, I only have like… three outfits."

Roxas smirked at her, "Isn't it against girl code to have less than fifty of them?"

"Exactly!" she gestured with her hands. "If they find out about this, I'm going to be arrested by the Fashion Police."

"But seriously, why don't you have any clothes?"

Naminé shrugged, "I promised myself a long time ago that I wasn't going to buy clothing until the transformation was complete, and I was back in Hollow Bastion."

"Why did you change, Nami?" Roxas said softly. "You know we loved you just the way you were."

"But there were a lot of people that didn't, and forgive me for conforming to societies unrealistic expectations, but I was sick of being bullied for something as stupid as my looks."

"But that didn't mean you have to cha-"

"Roxas…" Naminé said seriously, effectively silencing him. "It's cliché… but I really am happier this way. I like making other girls jealous. I enjoy the attention I receive from boys. I like knowing that now there's the prospect of finding someone to date and fall in love with."

The spiky-haired blond let out a large sigh, "You could have done all of that, as you were."

"No I couldn't," she replied jokingly.

"Yes you could. If… if _I_ were in love with you. I never would have let you go."

Naminé was silent for the longest time. She didn't like the way that Roxas was saying these things. He was putting down all of her work. She'd strived for so long to have the body and face of someone that could finally put Xion in her place, and he was sullying all her efforts.

"Let's just get some pizza and go."

When they walked into the pizza joint, they joined the line and Naminé looked around the place with curiosity. Pence worked here. She wondered if he had a shift tonight.

"Hey, do you know if Pence is working tonight?"

"He had a shift earlier in the day."

"He didn't reply to Sora' text, did he?"

"Speaking of texts," Roxas said, getting out his phone. "You have to tell me your number." The both of them swapped phones and she punched in her number.

When they swapped again, she raised the device and said, "Smile for the camera." They each took a photo of one another and attached it to their respective numbers.

She was about to put her phone back in her pocket when it was snatched out of her hand. She whirled around to see who had the nerve to do that, when she was encountered with none other than Seifer Almasy. Seifer was also in league with Xion, someone who used to tease and mock her as a child, and now he had the nerve to steal her fucking phone?

"Seifer, give it back to her," Roxas growled.

"Pipe down, Evans," the arrogant blond replied. He turned lecherous blue eyes in Naminé's direction, narrowing his eyes, "Hello beautiful."

"Oh my god, _seriously?_" Naminé snapped. "Give me back my phone, jerk."

"Well firstly I have to put my number in it, don't I? So you can call me when you're feeling frisky," he said lustfully.

Naminé grimaced and sighed, "Well, you've got balls. I'll give you that."

"Want to get up and close and personal with them?" he chuckled, stepping close so that their faces were inches apart.

Naminé was about to reply with a sassy retort when she thought of a better idea. She lowered her eyelashes seductively and said, "Sure, big boy." In the middle of a public place, she started lowering herself until she was level with the drawstrings of his pants. Seifer was so shocked by her bold movements that he completely froze. As quick as lightning, she pulled them and roughly shoved Seifer's pants down, revealing blue tidy whities.

He was so surprised that he dropped her phone, and she caught it just before it reached the ground, using the opportunity to take a picture. Half of the restaurant was doing the same while Seifer frantically moved to pull up his pants. Seifer and his lackeys ran out of the pizza joint while Roxas gave Naminé a high five. When they re-joined the line, the girl at the counter said, "Just for that, you can have your meal half price. Seriously, we've been waiting for that prick to leave forever."

The both of them were laughing when they piled into the car, one large pizza balancing on Naminé's knees while Roxas pulled out of the parking lot.

"I mean, where do you even come up with the courage to do that kind of thing?" he yelled in astonishment. "Seifer's gonna want your head on a spike now."

"Well that's what he gets for hitting on me when he was so mean bef… Oh Jesus… Seifer didn't know it was me."

"Um, yeah?"

"Sorry," she said, pushing her bangs out of the way, "that just sunk in. So in his eyes, I was just being mean for no reason."

"Not really," Roxas murmured, pulling into the parking lot underneath Club Spades, "I mean, that's definitely not how you ask a girl for their number."

She laughed, the sound echoing off the walls of the parking lot, "Definitely not."

Naminé remembered that night with Roxas as one of the best ever, eating pizza while setting up her PS3 and drinking soda over rerun episodes of The Walking Dead. They made plans for the following day; grocery shopping, calling a moving van to pick up Roxas' baby grand piano, and maybe a trip to Naminé's mansion to get numerous items from her house, like her skateboard and a few elements of her entertainment system. She knew -by how awesome that day was- that this year was going to be one of the greatest of her life.

* * *

**& bgm: **cont.

In the morning, Naminé and Roxas were looking through some local movers so they could get one to transport Roxas' piano. After they made the call, they organised a time and the both of them went out for grocery shopping. After five seconds of being fed up with her outfit, she pulled on another dress-shirt and three of her tribal bracelets. It was kind of odd, shopping with a boy. She felt kind of like a wife. _Don't judge me. Like the rest of you aren't thinking it, _she thought to no one in particular.

"I wrote down the grocery list in my phone," Naminé said, digging it out of her pocket while Roxas pulled a trolley from the stacks.

"Can you add chocolate milk to it?"

"Oh yeah, we should double it then, because I want my own carton. What do you want from the vegetable isle?"

"Ew, gross."

"Roxas, I'm not going to give you the vegetable speech. I'm just going to go right ahead and call your mother."

Roxas looked at her in surprise, "How do you have my mother's number?"

"She gave it to me, when she asked for the number to the apartment." Naminé smirked, "She wants to be able to call her 'cutie-patootie Roxy-poo'."

"Please do not tell me that's what she actually called me? She reserves that name for while I'm playing gory video games, and trying to humiliate me in front of girls."

"That's her, right from the mouth."

"God, I hate being the youngest."

After filling up on vegetables and various forms of coffee, tea, meat and a rather ridiculous assemblage of instant food i.e. noodles, lasagne, rice, soup, chips, meat pies, ready-made meals, etc. Roxas went away to fetch the chocolate milk while Naminé was left to deal with getting various cleaning supplies. She was taking the time to sneak in some cat food and taking it back to hide under the array of necessities (stringy cheese, gingerbread cookies, waterproof mascara) when she bumped into someone she had been hoping to avoid until the first day of school.

The first thought that came to her head was: _Who wears heels to go grocery shopping?_

It was none other than Xion Shapiro herself. Naminé winced at the sight of her and pretended she hadn't seen her when the black-haired girl walked right up to her. She almost didn't recognise her. Xion had cut her hair since the last time she'd seen her, and it was now a tight little bob.

"So, word around here is that the elusive 'Wave' is _actually_ Naminé d'Blanc. Is that true?"

Naminé sneered, mascara laden eyes making her look dangerous, "It might be."

"Just because you came back pretty through an extensive amount of plastic surgery-"

Naminé laughed humourlessly, "I never went under the knife, but maybe you should. A firm pair of breasts might make up for you degrading, unstimulating personality."

Xion's eyes widened in both confusion and horror, before she sneered at her, "You slut. Just because you look like a two-cent hoe now, doesn't mean-"

"Oh wow, Xion. _Bravo._ You just proved that there is little hope left for humanity. Congratulations." Naminé clapped sarcastically, unaffected when Xion started storming up to her. She wasn't scared. Naminé was wearing sneakers, she'd be able to beat her in a fight, or outrun her in an instant. "I see you've set aside this special time to humiliate yourself in public."

"Do you even know who you're talking to?" Xion asked rhetorically, pressing her fingers against her chest. "I am Xion Shapiro; cheerleading captain and homecoming princess. There isn't anyone right in the head that would come and oppose me."

"At least until now," Naminé replied, her lips turned up in a smile.

"Stupid skan-" Xion stopped suddenly and Naminé looked back to see what she was staring at, realising that Xion was looking at Roxas.

_Oh._

"Got the milk, Nam," he stated, putting it into the trolley. He realised who else was there and his expression became a little bit pinched as he said, "Hey… Xion."

"Hi Roxas," the black-haired girl replied cheerily, clasping her hands together adorably. There was a light flush to her cheeks that Naminé hadn't seen before. She looked between Xion and then back at Roxas, before the connection finally struck her.

_Xion likes Roxas? Holy hell am I going to use that as an advantage. Wait a second, isn't she with Riku? _

"What are you doing here?" The _'with her'_ was implied.

"We're just doing the grocery shopping," he answered back.

"As _roommates,_" Naminé added.

Xion's eyes widened to her previous look of confusion and dread, "As… roommates?"

"Yes," Roxas said, a small smile bringing up the corner of his lips. "I'm moving into Naminé's apartment for final year."

"Oh," she said, trying to feign pleasantness. "Is Naminé coming to-?"

"Yeah, I'm going to Rising Falls for senior year. It's going to be fun, isn't it?" Naminé smirked.

"Totally," Xion agreed. It was then that a black-haired woman called to Xion and she looked back before nodding. "My mom's calling me, so I better go."

"It was nice seeing you," Naminé said, trying to make the lying through her teeth as obvious as possible. When they were at the counter, Roxas punched her in the arm, smiling. "Ouch! What the hell was that for?"

"You're such a terrible person."

* * *

**& bgm: **_I'll Follow You into the Dark - _Death Cab For Cutie

She'd waited until Roxas went to sleep to get out of the apartment. She pulled on a pair of Vans, grabbed her skateboard resting near the door and snuck out. Naminé was a bit rusty, so she practiced the basics in the parking lot before heading out.

She stopped off at the alleyway right next to the club and set down a small little blue bow and ripped open a satchel of cat food. Just as she expected, the mother kitty came out of her box shelter and started eating the offering. Naminé watched her, as well as the kittens following her out of the box. When the mommy cat was done eating, Naminé opened two more satchels and fended off the other alley cats as the kittens had their fill.

Naminé had noticed these cats when she was trying to use the back entrance of Club Spades in order to meet Luxord. She'd never been allowed to have a pet as a kid, despite being as spoilt as she was, because her parents were never around and there was no one to take care of a pet except Naminé herself. In truth she just wanted to take them in, but she knew that if Luxord found them in his building, he would wring Naminé's neck. Instead she ushered the kittens back into their cardboard box and almost had a heart attack when a stack of junk-filled boxes toppled over behind her.

She turned around; ready to run and scream and she noticed who it was.

Her voice was breathless and surprised as she said, "V-Vanitas."

He looked up from the boxes on the floor, looking equally as surprised as her, "Naminé."

The sound of his voice sent shivers down her spine, inciting something hot and feathery against the insides of her skin. Her body language became a little shyer around him.

"What are you doing here?" she asked him.

He looked to the side and she took a minute to examine his body; hard muscles, lithe figure, trendy dark clothes. He looked like he just came back from a nightclub… from-

"We're you just in Club Spades?"

"I wasn't doing anything of importance. Even more questionable, what are you doing in the _alleyway_ of Club Spades?"

"Oh you know, satanic rituals, random acts of bestiality…"

"The usual?" he smirked.

"Yep," she replied, nodding her head. She tugged on her bangs and turned around to check if the cats were okay before picking up her skateboard and heading to the mouth of the alley. "So how did you know I was Naminé and not Wave?"

Vanitas shrugged, looking off to the side and saying, "What are you doing back here?"

Naminé started walking towards the drug store and the black-haired teen followed, apparently having nothing better to do. "I'm attending final year here. I'm rooming on top of Club Spades."

He whistled, "Lucky." After a moment of silence, he said, "So what's a girl like you doing at this time of night?"

"I'm heading to the drug store."

"Might I inquire?"

"I've run out of cigarettes."

He shuffled in his pockets and pulled out a packet, "Here, have one of mine."

She took one gratefully and brought out the lighter in her pocket, snapping it to life and breathing in deeply. She'd been craving one all day. She'd managed to get one in before Roxas woke up but had then realised it was her last.

"I heard you're rooming with Roxas from Ven."

"That would be correct. How long has Ven tried to make you quit?"

"Since I started. You know they hate it right?"

"I know," she replied, expelling another stream of smoke. "It's your fault you know?"

"No it's not."

"I meant about me," Naminé said. Vanitas looked at her in confusion for a few seconds before shrugging. Maybe he didn't get it. Oh well. She didn't feel like blaming him right now.

They went into the corner drug store and Naminé asked for a packet of Marlboro cigarettes, finding that her shorts were just too tight to carry them she opted for holding them within the grip of her skateboard arm.

"What made you leave a nice place like Dark City?"

"Leaving Dark City has always been the plan," she explained. "I made sure I never made any friends there, didn't get a boyfriend, didn't get a job. Made sure I never cemented any ties, kept quiet, did my school work. The only people I ever came close to were my traceur buddies."

Vanitas let out a low whistle and shook his head, "I'm not entirely sure how to respond to that."

Naminé laughed breathily, "You could start by saying that traceuse turn you on."

"Actually, yeah, traceuse do turn me on. But that's beside the point. What I am indeed saying, is that you're one of the only girls that's ever been able to render me speechless." She watched the smoke curl around his hand, loving the entire vision of him. He was a silhouette of darkness and spiked angles softened by shifting smoke and the sexy curve of his smile. "I'm not really sure if it's a good thing or a bad thing though."

"Well, to that I say, 'innocent until proven guilty'?"

"You're such a weirdo."

On the way back to Club Spades was the skate park that Naminé frequented as a kid, and always met up with Roxas, Axel and co. Vanitas led her to one of the bowls and Naminé let her board run into the depths while they sat on the edge.

"So how have you been keeping yourself busy?" she looked to the side and realised Vanitas had a slightly displeased expression on his face. He leant his head on her shoulder, just like he'd done a year ago. She loved the way his hair felt on her skin and the refreshing scent of his cologne.

His voice was a whisper after a large, easy pause, "I've just been wandering, thinking about life."

"Don't hurt yourself."

"I don't intend to," he replied with a slight hint of amusement. "But honestly, what drove you to change?"

"Don't tell me you're seriously asking me that?"

"I seriously am," Vanitas replied. "The first thing I noticed about you might have been something along the lines of 'Your teeth are ugly' or 'She looks badly disproportioned' but it was never 'I _hate_ you for being disproportioned'."

"Well," Naminé placed her hands on her knees and bobbed her head to the side, "unfortunately not all five-year-olds are as free-thinking and spirited as little Vanitas."

"To be completely honest I didn't have the mental capacity for judging beauty. My main concerns were to avoid stepping on Lego and figuring out why my dad wore an eye patch. Both things I think about to this day."

She let out a soft chuckle, leaning back so that the both of them were lying on the concrete, staring at the moon and finishing off cigarettes.

"I'm not going to bullshit you, Vanitas. I wanted to be beautiful. I was influenced by being the least visually aesthetic kid in the grade and the high standards set by fucking Disney princesses. I mean, how come they never made an ugly princess? The only ugly good person in the history of Disney was Quasimodo, and guess what? He _doesn't_ get the girl."

Vanitas let a slightly amused noise escape his lips before he said, "I'm not familiar with Disney."

"What?!"

"I read books as a kid. Didn't do much watching. Axel did force me to watch The Lion King two years ago though, because he was too bloody lazy to watch any rendition of Hamlet."

The both of them burst out into laughter. She relished in the sound of his happiness. Vanitas was always so reserved and held an air about him that was impossible to shatter. He had this smile -one that mirrored her own- that said he'd never be understood. The sound itself was breathless and husky, the kind of combination that left goosebumps on her skin.

"Tell me though… How much of you has changed?"

She took one last drag and flicked the cigarette away, "I can't exactly give you a percentage."

"C'mon, what was your last artwork about? What was the last book that you read?"

"Vanitas, I haven't drawn in years. The last ones were some sketches of coffee mugs and a few busks of faceless women. Or was it the last sketches of my classmates? It might have been a hands study, I can't remember."

"Hands?"

"I love hands," Naminé muttered, reaching between them and grabbing his own, using her fingers to pull apart his own. The movements were somehow sensual, yet at the same time curious and innocent. His hands were worn and callused, but warm and slender. A multitude of rings and bracelets adorn the wrists and knuckles. Her index finger trailed along his heart line, pressing into the crook of his wrist. "They're capable of so many things. Destruction. Pain. Longing. They're the second window into the soul."

He muttered quietly, "I wish Xion looked at your hands, before your face. I wish I had too."

Naminé held up both of her own hands, slim and delicate, but roughed up due to so much parkour practice, outlined by the moon. Her fingernails were growing out and a little chipped, and she was wearing one ring, a cluster of different silver lengths dotted with sapphires.

The blond shrugged, smiling a little bit, "I think it's alright for people to have opinions… Even if they're fucking _wrong._"

"A-fucking-men."

He obliged her a chuckle before checking his phone and saying, "We better head back, our roommates might have realised we're gone." He stood and Naminé slid into the bowl to collect her skateboard, using it to skate out of it.

"Oh, one more thing." He gestured towards his wrist and Naminé looked down on her own. It was only _now_ that she realised one of the tribal bracelets she'd thrown on had been the one Vanitas gave her as a child. "I've _always_ known it was you. A barely concealing fake name and all the beauty in the world wouldn't have stopped me, Naminé."

He offered her a two-fingered salute before turning around and walking out of the alley. She stood there shocked for a good five minutes before she gathered her wits and willed away the blush, sneaking back into her apartment completely and utterly content.

**tbc.**

_kacey._

**_last revision: _**_12th July, 2013._


	4. Cliché'd Mess

**_a/n:_**_ Thank you to my wonderful reviewers Flying By Wire, Guest, Getsuga TENSHOU 15, A Nobody's Fate, Ka-tay's mind, Wash in with WAVES, Wander-bird, ThePurpleKittyQuXXn, vanitasu, Just A Fan & Innocent Lives for reviewing the last chapter._

_Guys, I've got to save up for a PS4 now, which will be monumentally hard with my spending habits._

**_propts to: _**_The Aquarium_

* * *

**& bgm: **_Anything Could Happen - _Ellie Goulding

**Drown**

It was ten o'clock in the morning. Naminé was enjoying a healthy bowl of Coco Pops, legs crossed on the sofa watching an anime named No. 6 on her laptop. This was a very normal sight for anyone that knew her personally. She'd spent most of her spare time in the two years she was away in the exact same position, shredding her way through seasons of anime and dramas when she wasn't studying or exercising.

Roxas was reading The Catcher in the Rye on the couch next to her, occasionally looking up whenever the noise escalated on Naminé's screen. It was kind of strange draping over each other when they'd only really become acquainted a few days ago, but she thought the sooner they settled into a rhythm with each other, the better their relationship would be.

He drawled, "Alright, so what's the anime about?"

"Killer bees and yaoi."

"Is that some kind of weird new kink?" he stretched his neck, which was leaning against her thigh to see the screen.

"No, you idiot. There are killer bees. And there is yaoi. There's a pathetic amount of yaoi, but it's more than what you see anime with homosexual undertones. There are also robotic rats, a cute and somewhat dim-witted protagonist, Shakespeare and a wall separating the metropolis from the outcast society."

"That sounds like the makings of a disaster," he laughed.

"Fine, I'll switch," Naminé moaned, closing the tab and opening another.

"What are you watching?"

"Shingeki no Kyojin."

She liked the serene atmosphere. Sunlight was streaming in through the window, and there wasn't anything in the world they had to worry about. They were waiting on a party that was going to signal the start of the school year. She was going to make memories she would never forget.

Today was a good day.

"The bondage anime?"

"Fuck you."

Roxas started laughing ridiculously, the space between them bubbling with warmth as he turned on his side and adjusted his head so it pillowed on her thigh. She was surprised when she felt the scratchiness of five o'clock shadow. For some reason, the thought overwhelmed her to the point where she had to pause her movements. Roxas swivelled his neck so that she could see the outline of his eye over his cheekbones, but all she could think about was Roxas' stubble.

"Sorry," she muttered in embarrassment, before playing the video.

_Roxas having five o'clock shadow. The thought itself is obscene. _After all, she was still trying to differentiate between her friends as seventeen to eighteen-year-olds, and middle schoolers that laughed at the thought of blowing condoms up and hanging them from a tree to frighten teachers.

How had they changed, while she was gone? How had they all grown up together?

"I don't get it, why do you like this anime?"

"Are you kidding?" This was of course, a rhetorical question. "The concept is brilliant! It's like a horror twist on Jack and the Beanstalk. Humans are stuck in an itty-bitty enclosure surrounded by man-eating titans. The only way to fight them off is to swing around like _Spider-Man_ and cut off their necks with gloriously long swords."

"Do you have an OTP?"

_"YES!"_ she answered, all too enthusiastically. "Between the main protagonist and the watchdog soldier who's supposed to keep his titan-self under control."

She couldn't see, but she was sure Roxas raised an eyebrow. He was grinning, she could tell from the small movement she felt against her thigh. "What's so appealing about them?"

"Rivaille and Eren? Just the fact that they're both soldiers who fight for the sake of humanity. And at absolutely any sign of affection Eren shows Rivaille, who is afraid of human contact, will brutally beat him down. Imagine the hate sex, Roxas."

"Nam-"

"Shh!" she hush-whispered, covering his mouth with her hand. "Just imagine it."

"Phackin' he-" he said, through the barrier of her fingers.

"_Imagine_ it, dammit!"

Roxas' attempt at freedom rocked her Coco Pops, and she let out a yelp as she prevented a brown stain on their beautiful green sofa. They burst into laughter that made the laptop shiver. While she was trying to control her giggles, Roxas' phone started chiming The Pretty Reckless' version of Seven Nation Army, and he opened up a FaceTime chat with Olette.

"Hey Olette," he said, still trying to hold back laughs as he settled back into his position. Naminé slid the volume down as she focused on the brunet's face. Behind Olette was a plain brick wall which looked oddly familiar. "What's up?"

_"Where's Naminé?"_

Roxas adjusted the phone so that Naminé could fit into the screen. There was a high pitched scream in Olette's background and Kairi hopped into the frame pointing at the camera.

_"You guys are so adorable together!"_

That caught Roxas' attention. He immediately righted and adjusted himself, leaning on her a little bit, keeping her within the camera's field of vision. Her skin tingled where he pressed his muscled arm to her own, but she tried to ignore it as she smiled into the camera, nervously tapping her spoon against her bowl of chocolate milk.

"What did you guys need?" Naminé asked them, leaning her head on Roxas' shoulder.

_"A little birdie told me you don't have a proper wardrobe," _Kairi said, wagging her finger at Naminé. _"A beautiful girl needs fashionable clothes."_

"I have a few clothes," Naminé stated slowly. "Presents from my mom."

_"That's not _nearly_ acceptable!"_ Kairi and Olette said together.

_"Anyway, we're in front of your building, so you have to let us in."_

Naminé put down her bowl of cereal and went to the video phone, the screen flickering to see both Kairi and Olette staring back at her. She still couldn't get over how awesome it was to be able to be in charge of her door. She hadn't had this level of freedom back at her mansion. She buzzed them in and waited for them to arrive at the door. When they flung open the door, they immediately went to hug Naminé, crushing her in their embrace. They hadn't seen each other in person for a year almost, and even then, they hadn't known it was her.

"Holy crap, you became _really_ hot, Naminé," Kairi complimented her.

"Aww. I love you too, Kairi!" Naminé gushed.

"Hello Roxas," Olette greeted politely. Roxas waved from his spot on the couch, apparently too engrossed in the anime to pay the girls any higher greeting. Naminé smiled smugly before giving Olette and Kairi the grand tour. And by grand tour, she meant pointing to the sections of her apartment and saying what they were (ie. "Staircase. Kitchen. Lounge room. Library.")

"This place is so beautiful!"

"Yeah," Olette agreed.

"You're so lucky," Kairi smiled, and it really _shone._ It had been a while since Naminé had been able to bask in the red head's light personality, or Olette's kindness. She was just beginning to get comfortable around them. "Alright, so it's time to show us this horrid wardrobe of yours."

Naminé shrugged and led them upstairs. They both gasped when they discovered the sparse nature of the blond's clothes. Naminé pressed herself against the inside of her walk in wardrobe, kind of embarrassed to be found out like this.

"But those clothes that you were wearing that night you went clubbing with us, where did they come from?" Kairi demanded, getting all up in Naminé's grill.

Naminé sighed and admitted it, "My mom bought those for me. Birthday presents."

"Sweet Shiva, we're going to have to do a complete overhaul. Naminé, get your credit card, we're going shopping," the red head declared triumphantly.

"What? I'm still in my pyjamas!"

"Get ready then!" Olette said, trying to supress her giggles behind her hand. Kairi dived into Naminé's clothing and helped her pick out a simple, but rather stylish outfit; a pale, orange-pink tank top under high-waisted sailor shorts, a tan blazer and nude suede platform heels. It was definitely a lot dressier than what Naminé was going for, but hell, it looked cute and she hoped she would look cute in it.

The three girls waved goodbye to Roxas as they exited the apartment and started heading down to Kairi's car. Naminé settled in the back as Kairi started the engine, adjusting the rear-view mirror so that their eyes met. The blond shivered for a moment and wondered if she was cold.

"Al_right_," Kairi grinned, shimmying her shoulders as she pulled out of their parking spot. "So you've got to dish out the dirt on what's been happening in the past two years, especially that stunt you pulled off almost a year ago."

Naminé was bout to open her mouth to retaliate when Olette butted in, "And no excuses. We are entitled to this information, and if you won't tell us, we will force it out of you sooner or later."

The blond proceeded to roll her eyes, wondering how she was going to phrase the complete mind-numbing boringness that had been her education. There had been no boys, no parties, and definitely no shenanigans worthy of Youtube. "I really can't say anything."

"Why not?"

"Because I was one of those boring kids that wouldn't stop studying," she admitted, a little embarrassed by it. "I'm not that smart, so I needed all the study time possible."

"Don't be ridiculous Naminé, you're plenty intelligent," Olette said.

"But not when it comes to _school,_" she retorted, "because I might know a bit about politics and government, art and music, but when it comes to practical thinking, like math and geography, I'm a complete and total wreck."

"That's because you don't study. Remember that biology exam we had in the seventh grade?" Olette said, making Naminé cringe, "You were too busy working on a painting to study."

"It was a really exhilarating process, alright?"

"How have you been doing with your art lately?" Kairi asked her. "I mean, your dad bought you that huge art studio, so you must be happy about it, right?"

Naminé sighed and looked out the window, "Sure."

Both Olette and Kairi looked at each other worriedly. It was the brunet that broached the subject Naminé had been dreading speaking about, "Is- is everything alright with your art?"

Naminé shook her head and said, "I don't want to talk about it."

"Okay…" Kairi said.

"C'mon," the blond said, trying to sound cheery, "What have you guys been up to while I was gone. I bet you have a lot of memories to recount, right?"

"You bet!" Olette said, trying to keep up her enthusiasm also. "I mean, just last term Sora almost set fire to the chemistry lab."

"I didn't know Sora took chemistry."

"That's just it," Kairi laughed, "he doesn't. He was accompanying Roxas and the teacher didn't even realise he was there until he almost blew off all of Roxas' hair."

Naminé laughed, honestly thankful to know her friends hadn't changed too much. Her laugh was naturally quiet, a small giggle at best. She was either breathily chuckling, or releasing small exhales of joy, there wasn't anything between or beyond those modes.

"Oh, oh, there was that time, in tenth grade when I got glitter all over Roxas' new Converses, and he wouldn't talk to me for a week afterwards," Kairi offered.

"What about that time last year when Vanitas was feeling really vindictive and cut off Riku's hair?"

Naminé snorted, "Really? He really cut Riku's hair?"

"I know right?" Kairi grinned as she pulled into the car park of Radiant Garden Mall. "He loves his hair. He treats it like a pet. Ollie, have you ever seen him feeding it?"

"If you mean can after can of product, then yes. Yes I have. Anyway, it's really short now, and Riku sneakily managed to screw up one of Vanitas' music assignments for it. He replaced Vanitas' 'Gothic Symphony' project with the Nyan Cat Song."

The girls shared a good laugh as they made their way out of the car and into the mall. To Naminé's pleasure, it looked familiar and different at the same time.

Over the next few hours, Olette and Kairi guided her through all of the stores, sifting through outfit after outfit, looking for items that suited Naminé's image and petite figure; dresses, skirts, pants, tops, shoes and accessory after accessory after accessory. Naminé had a certain weakness for shoes, which was difficult for her because she hadn't completely learned how to master walking in heels.

They were in one particular boutique called Hollows with Olette holding up two different skirts and Kairi holding up three different tops by the hangers. Naminé was choosing between them, in the end picking up a sleeveless button down pastel orange top from Kairi, and a black skater skirt from Olette. _They'll go perfectly with my new nude platform heels,_ Naminé thought gleefully.

She really couldn't believe that she was allowed to think such superficial thoughts instead of dreading the day in front of her like she used to. She really loved it. She loved hanging out with her friends, and she really loved being beautiful. She was just so happy to be alive right now.

"Okay, which one?"

"… Just take all of them."

* * *

**& bgm: **_Just Give Me a Reason (P!nk & Nate Ruess Cover) - _Alyssa Bernal and Josh Milan

When the trio returned to Naminé's apartment at five o'clock, Roxas was already dressed in his party clothes, ie. teal shirt, black fur hoodie, grey pants. Naminé was also in her party clothes, having chosen from all of her new buys; a white singlet with a crazy-cool graphic on it, that flashed her lacy black lingerie, black shorts with extra zippers, indie lace-up commando boots, a moustache necklace and an angel wing ring. All she had to do now was tease her hair and apply make up.

She dropped herself next to him on the couch while Olette and Kairi went up to her room to change.

"I hope you didn't completely exhaust yourself," Naminé stated sarcastically, as she watched Roxas click through the pages of an online manga she might have recognised.

"Excuse me," he said in a catty tone, " but where do you think these chips came from?" He made a grand gesture towards the packet of crisps nestled at his side; sour cream and chives flavour. She rolled her eyes and reached over to take a handful. Normally she wouldn't allow herself, it was against her dieting rules, but she felt like rebelling tonight. What was the point in partying if you weren't going to go wild?

But then again, eating a few crisps was a pathetic definition of going wild.

_What a wild child. _Next thing you know she'll be drinking juice pops in the car and running with scissors.

"But, seriously, have you done anything else today?"

"Yes, of course," Roxas said, clicking on the 'next' button. "I read through all my AP class textbooks, recorded notes and finished an essay on Lord of the Flies."

Naminé laughed and shoved her shoulder gently against his own, knowing what a complete shit head Roxas was being. He'd probably been working his way through this seemingly endless manga all day.

"Is that Deadman Wonderland?" she asked, crawling so that her torso was on his legs.

"Yes, Jesus, Naminé, you don't need to molest me to see the screen."

"You wish!"

"Aww. Lover's quarrel," Kairi said, alerting both blonde's to her and Olette's presence.

Roxas made a face and shook his head, "Don't say awkward shit like that, Kai. It's weird."

Kairi raised her eyebrow at the both of them before shrugging her shoulders. Naminé looked the both of them up and down, appreciating how pretty they looked in their clothes. Olette was wearing a cute little orange dress that crossed at the back and tied up behind her neck. It reached to just above her knees and flared out so it swished around her ankles, complimenting her pink suede heels nicely. Kairi was garbed in a cute pink crop top and high waisted black jeans. Adorning her feet were cute pale pink platform sandals.

"You two look really pretty," Naminé said, the words leaving her mouth before she was really aware they'd escaped.

"Thanks Naminé," Kairi replied, before turning a stink-eye in Roxas' direction. "If only _Roxas_ was as nice as you."

"Hey, don't go to me fishing for compliments."

"Well," the red-head said, checking her phone for the time, "it's about time I head to the roof top to prepare everything. I've got over an hour for decorating the rooftop. Do you guys want to come with?"

"I'll come!" Olette said.

"I think I'll stay here," Roxas said, still clicking through the pages of Deadman Wonderland.

"Me too," Naminé stated, who was now engrossed with the manga also.

When the both of them left, Roxas readjusted himself and draped a hand around Naminé's shoulders. She was kind of suspicious of the movement, but she let it slide.

"So, did you have fun?"

"No, Roxas. Shopping was the absolute pinnacle of a disastrous time," she replied sarcastically.

He rolled his eyes and started drumming his fingers against her skin. She realised that he didn't drum his fingers in a straight line, instead he put down separate fingers at different times, as if he was playing the piano against her shoulder. It was a unique facet of him she hadn't realised before.

"It's just… It's really good to have you back Naminé."

"Thanks."

"Are you looking forward to this party?" he murmured.

Naminé reflected over her answer, realising that no, parties had never really been her scene. But there was a feeling in the back of her brain telling her that yes, she was looking forward to the reaction her classmates would have to her new appearance, and yes, there was a tiny part of her that wanted to rub in the fact that she was no longer an ugly duckling, but she was never really sure she could be a wild party animal. Naminé had just been a sheltered little nerd over the last few years.

"Eh," she shifted her hand in a so-so gesture and he made an affirmative noise in the back of his throat. "I mean, the closest thing I've been to a party in the last year was Club Spades the night we all went out."

Roxas laughed a little, his body movement rocking through hers as well, "Good times. Oh, I've been meaning to ask you something about that."

"Yeah?" she asked, getting up and crossing her legs, tilting her hand and running her fingers through her messy blond tresses.

"Did you and Vanitas hide together that night?"

Naminé turned away, looking down at her legs as she tried to will away her blush. "Um… yeah, we did."

"Where did you guys hide? Because, honestly, we were looking for a solid thirty minutes and we still couldn't find you."

She turned to face him again and grinned, placing a finger to her lips, "A magician never reveals her secrets."

Unfortunately, that didn't have the desired effect on him she was hoping for, "Are you looking forward to seeing him tonight?"

"Vanitas is coming tonight?" she asked, a little too fast for her liking.

"Well yeah," Roxas nodded slowly. "Why wouldn't he come?"

"Um… doesn't he not go to Rising Falls anymore?"

"He does."

Naminé was arguing back a little too forcefully not to be suspicious. "But when I came here a year ago, everyone said he wasn't going to school any more."

The spiky-headed blond nodded slowly, "Yes. That was the month he was suspended for beating up the boys who were bulling Sora."

"Why was Sora being bullied?"

"Because he just came out of the closet," Roxas replied.

"Oh, okay," Naminé replied. First Kairi, and then Sora. Well, maybe she should have seen it coming.

"Weird, huh? I thought for sure Riku would be coming out first."

Naminé inclined her head softly, looking at Roxas through strands of platinum gold, "I thought that Riku was dating Xion?"

"I mean…" Roxas creaked his neck, Naminé's eyes roving over the tanned skin and the smooth column of his neck. "Riku seems more effeminate than Sora. Don't get me wrong, I thought they were both straight, but I honestly thought Riku would come out before Sora if they turned out to be homosexual."

"Well, good for him," Naminé said cheerily. She arched to grab her phone and check the time, knowing the party was probably already in full swing by now.

"Do you want to go up now?"

"I'll just be a minute."

* * *

**& bgm: **_Levels - _Skrillex

The 'decorations' for the party, actually were huge strobe lights glimmering from the zigzag bars of a large stage, where an unknown band was playing Fall Out Boy's _Light It Up._ Everyone was coloured blue, pink and purple or green, yellow and red from the stage lights sending colour throughout the mob.

Naminé had just climbed through the fire escape behind Roxas, and was completely overwhelmed by the scene. It was like nothing she'd ever been to before. To the left were a bunch of raggedy looking old lounge chairs where other teenagers were chilling or making out, to the right were three tables stacked with food; burgers, treats, baked goods, and pizza. Underneath the tables were coolers filled with soda and alcohol and right at the end of the roof was the beautiful stage showering everything with light.

As soon as Roxas and Naminé walked forward a group of seemingly drunk people on a couch near the entrance cheered. One of them was familiar, and got up to greet them. After examining him a little closely, she realised it was Riku. She was expecting the long hair, so when he came up to her expecting a hug she looked confused for a minute.

"Oh my God, Riku!" she jumped into his arms, laughing when he twirled her around. "Jesus Christ, did you get taller?"

"I see you're still the same, _Naminé,_" he replied in normal, smooth tone. She let out a small exhale, rolling her eyes in embarrassment.

"It's awesome to have you back."

She'd never really been that close with Riku, but she was happy about the true sentiment in his voice. She was about to respond when she was tackled by a head of brown spikes.

_"Nami!"_

When she was properly acquainted with most of her friends, she found herself constantly being reintroduced to people she hardly remembered. At the moment, Hayner had his hand around her shoulder, and he was steering her in the direction of the soccer team.

"Hayner, I don't believe this is the best idea," she said, squirming in his grasp, unfortunately, he'd somehow become musclier over the course of their separation and had a good firm grip on her shoulder.

"Don't be silly, Nam. Once they realise how amazing you've become they aren't going to treat you like absolute shit anymore. Isn't that what you've always wanted?"

"Of course but-" she was still reluctant to admit that the only jocks she'd ever really had a conversation with, were Hayner and Riku, and she really didn't consider them jocks anymore, even if they were on sports teams and such. She'd openly dissed Beat before, but that was a year ago. Her confidence was a waning identity.

"Hey guys," Hayner said, pulling Naminé into the middle of a set of couches where the soccer jocks were speaking about miscellaneous things, their girlfriends draping over them like blankets.

"Who's the hottie you've got with you?" one of them asked.

Naminé's face fell into a grimace. She knew it was a compliment, but when he called her that she felt objectified. She made a slight hissing sound in Hayner's direction, but he just ignored it and pushed her forward.

"Guys, this is Naminé."

There was a moment of silence amongst the jocks who raised an eyebrow as her name settled into their consciousness as something they were meant to remember. The time between Hayner's announcement, and the first jocks' affirmation was something akin to torture, twitching her fingers and urging her to bite her tongue.

"Holy shit," the tone was the expected mix of disbelief and amazement she was expecting. Naminé tried and failed to stop herself from smirking, her eyes shifting to sultry as she batted her thick blond lashes. Admittedly, a reaction like that was enough to get her off. "You mean, you were that ugly kid Xion used to bully all the time?" When she heard the 'u' word, she jerked her head and lowered an eyebrow, the edge of her lips twitching up in annoyance.

"'Ugly's such a relative word," she replied, shaking her head and switching the weight of her foot. "But if you're going to be blunt," she shrugged, closing her eyes, "I guess."

There was a surprise murmur among them, and three of them wolf whistled at her. Something about the sound didn't sit right with her, and she drummed her fingers against Hayner's hand on her shoulder, shaking her head and turning away. She wanted to convince herself she did not become who she was, for the attention of some brainless jocks.

_This was not how I expected it to go._

For a while she wandered the crowds with no real destination, spacing out to the music pumping in the background. Someone came by with a tray of shots and she reached forward to take one, downing it and loving sweet, oozing burn. Naminé shifted through the crowd, looking for someone she recognised, or something to do. This was what she was afraid of; looking awkward and unsure of herself.

Irritated, she grabbed one of the beers from the coolers and went down the fire escape, taking the elevator down the bottom floor. She took a quick glance at the teenagers loitering in the hallway around the entrance to Club Spades, unsure whether they were here for the club or the roof party.

"Hey there, pretty girl."

Naminé kept on walking, not exactly ignoring the cat call, but rather unused to being addressed in such a way, assuming the man was speaking to someone else. She didn't know whoever was speaking was actually addressing her until she felt a hand on her shoulder.

Blinking in surprise, she turned to address the man and his friends, raising an eyebrow and licking her lips. She waited for him to talk, not appreciative of his roaming, wolf eyes and their predatory gleam. Huffing quietly, her fingers twitched for a cigarette.

"Is there something special going on tonight?" his breath smelt of fumes and a strong scent she remembered as scotch. She crossed her arms over her chest and tried to fan away the stench discreetly by loosely pressing her curled knuckles to her lips.

"Rooftop party," she replied breathily, trying her best to keep from coughing. The tickle in her throat became an insistent ache.

"Anyway in?" one of his companions asked.

"Sorry," she shrugged, "invitation only." At that she tried to walk away, coughing in as lady-like a manner as possible.

"Perhaps we weren't being persuasive enough, darling?" he asked, dropping an octave, as if that was meant to intimidate her. She rolled her eyes and tugged her shoulder out of his grip. This time, she managed to reach the entrance of the club and open the door before the guy that was harassing her turned her around again.

"Listen, bitch-" he growled.

"Luxord," Naminé called in the direction of the bar. She caught Xigbar's, Luxord's best friend and bartender, attention and he caught Luxord's. Already, some of the man's followers were leaving him to go outside.

"Bollocks," the blond man swore, "it's you again." He was definitely addressing the man at Naminé's side, "I threw you out last time because you were making a right tizzy over something stupid. If I find that you've been harassing my cousin, I'll call the police."

"He has been," Naminé stated simply.

"Hey, no need to get the cops on the line," the man said defensively, probably surprised by Naminé and Luxord's relation. "I wasn't annoyin' her, wasn't I, dear?" he said with a chuckle, placing his hands on Naminé's shoulders.

"Don't _touch_ me," she growled, inciting the immediate removal of his hands. He left grumbling about lack of hospitality these days, and Naminé almost threw her bottle at the man's head. How so completely _rude._

She followed him out and watched him walk down the streets, meeting with his cowardice posse at the end of it, turning around and making an obscene gesture with two fingers and his tongue. She shuddered in disgust as she patted her pockets for a cigarette, knowing she hid one amongst her earphones somewhere. It was rather cold and windy outside. She looked up when she heard the sound of a skateboard pulling up next to her, an easy smile coming onto her face when she recognised him, pulling the messed up strands from her eyes.

"Yo," he smirked as Naminé drummed her fingers against her hips, inclining her head.

"Hey, you've got a smoke?"

He slipped a cigarette case out of his back pocket. He gestured for her to come closer and he slipped one into her hand, she turned it around and slipped it between her lips. Naminé cupped her mouth with both her hands as he flicked on the lighter, her craving for the fumes intensifying as the little light flickered from the gusts between her fingers. Their eyes met for a second, blue eyes meeting irises that had gone light brown with darkness.

She felt something undeniable; chemistry, small shudders all over her body, tingles along her hips and arms, breasts and waist, remembering moments hundreds of evenings ago. She sucked in smoke methodically, as her eyes roved over slim, powerful arms and the slender curves of his neck, the bulky, cross-adorned chain hanging between his pectorals. They shared a moment of brief intimacy until she cut it off by turning her eyes away.

"Thanks…"

"I see you've _already _come outside to relieve yourself," Vanitas grinned, the corner of his lips revealing a sharp-looking tooth, "The party can't be _that_ boring, can it?"

"I can be when the entire soccer team is trying to grope you," she muttered in response.

"C'mon, a smart girl like you needs to respond negatively to that," he teased, blowing out a stream of smoke from between two curved lips. "Have you tried mace? The f-word?"

Her laughter bubbled up her throat, and she knocked her shoulder into Vanitas' gently, pushing her bangs away from her face by combing them upwards with her fingers.

"Just as well," he murmured. "Parties never really seemed like your scene."

"It's not that bad," she lied.

Vanitas shifted his head in her direction, so she could see the curve of his honey-gold eyes, "Really?" The lilt of his voice and the playful tweak of his lips gave everything away. He knew she was lying, when any ordinary person would have believed her and dropped it.

Naminé expelled a lungful loudly through her nostrils, watching the trail of twisting smoke as she gestured her words, "It isn't like how it was when it was just the eleven of us. I don't like not having anyone to talk to."

"Your glamorous life not everything you thought it would be?"

She opened her mouth to retort something sarcastic, or mean, but after a moment of recollection she nodded her head, returning her gaze to the opposite side of the street, examining the details of the elaborate town houses mirroring her building.

"Yeah."

The both of them threw down their cigarettes and Vanitas used a booted toe to stub the embers out, picking them up and throwing them into a bucket of sand near Club Spade's alleyway. Naminé watched as Vanitas gestured to his skateboard, and she nodded, "You can drop it off at my apartment."

As they climbed the stairs the black-haired boy said, "A little birdie told me that you're rooming with Roxas."

"This little birdie wouldn't happen to be blond, blue-eyed, and lacking a brain-to-mouth filter, would he?" she asked sweetly.

"You'd be right. Ventus is definitely more of a gossip than he lets on."

"That doesn't upset you, does it?"

"Ventus being a loud mouth? No I-"

"I meant about me rooming with Roxas."

Vanitas blinked, a moment of surprise showing in his eyes, but a second later it was gone, replaced with a look of indifference, "Why would it?"

Naminé just shook her head and refused to respond, creating a tense and embarrassed atmosphere. They'd just made it to the floor underneath Naminé's when Kairi rushed up to them, her dress soaking through with brown liquid.

"That's an interesting look on you, Kairi," Vanitas snickered.

"Bite me," she snapped, pushing red-velvet bangs out of her eyes. "Naminé, I need you to bring up more refreshments from my apartment, you don't mind do you? I left a few bags at your place, and I need to change. Some of Hayner's friends are absolute assholes."

"Sure," Naminé replied, giving Kairi her keys.

"Wanna come along?" the blond asked him.

"Don't let that _demon_ into my apartment!" Kairi shouted from the other end of the hall.

Once Kairi was out of sight Vanitas smirked and shrugged his shoulders, pushing Naminé in the direction of her friend's apartment. Her key read '27', so the both of them hunted down the room, wondering what awaited them in Kairi's apartment. Being Kairi's distant friend until a few years ago, she'd never actually seen the inside of her apartment, only her room in some of the selfies that she took. So the both of them were quite taken aback when they stumbled into a beautifully decorated, rather pastel apartment, with fancy chandeliers and the scent of daisies wafting in from the open window.

"Okay," Vanitas said, probably unable to handle the amount of endorphins surrounding him, "I'll just wait outside. Holler if you need help."

"Will do," Naminé snickered, venturing further into the interior design nightmare. She spied a few bottles of wine and alcohol as well as a cooler of soda near the kitchen sink.

She was about to pick up a six-pack when she heard an odd noise coming from what she assumed was one of the bedrooms. The back of her neck prickled as the panicking instincts started to seep in. The chill ran up her spine when she realised the noise had stopped. She snapped her neck to the side, rushing over to Kairi's fireplace and picking up a fire poker, brandishing it like a spear. The noise returned; the rustle of sheets, a careless whisper.

Pressing herself to the wall, she steeled her nerves and swung open the bedroom door only to be met with a surprised scream.

"What the ever-living fuck?" Riku yelled.

Naminé was stuck, frozen where she was, her eyes bulging at the scene before her. Riku was shirtless and covered to the waist with a bumpy-looking blanket shielding his dignity. The bump between his legs swore quietly and a spiky head of brown locks slipped out of the blanket to settle in Riku's lap.

"What the hell is wrong with you Riku? It's one thing to tease me about being a virgin but when you mock my oral skills-"

"Sora, for once in your life, shut the fuck up and turn around."

"What's wr- Oh…" Sora twisted his neck and offered Naminé a beaming smile. "Hey Naminé. What brings you to Kairi's apartment?"

Vanitas jogged in, placing a hand on Naminé's shoulder saying, "Hey, I heard a scream, what-?" He absorbed the sight before him, and his face split in half with a grin, "I _knew_ it! I totally called it. Ven owes me sixty bucks."

"So Xion _is_ just your beard after all?" Naminé blurted out.

"I know, it's scandalous, isn't it?" Sora replied, seemingly unfazed by the entire scenario.

"Do you mind?" Riku growled, making a gesture for the both of them to shoo. Naminé shared a look with Vanitas and the both of them burst into laughter. How the both of them could 'get it on' surrounded by Kairi's stuffed toys and pink wallpaper, they would never understand.

"Hey," Sora said. "Would you mind keeping this a secret?"

"For whose sake?" Vanitas asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Riku's," the brunet replied, remaining skilfully poker-faced.

Both intruders shrugged and exited the room, closing the door behind them. They lugged the drinks up to the top floor trading disbelieving comments about the state of Kairi's room. It was like it housed a middle-schooler.

"Okay, I know that some parties are crazy, but I definitely wasn't expecting that."

"Honey, we're just getting started."

* * *

**& bgm: **_Morning Sun ft. Miley Cyrus - _Rock Mafia

Just over three o'clock and the party was starting to thin out. Some went home, and whoever lived in the building was allowing people to crash at their place. Olette and Pence were crashing at Kairi's place while Roxas returned to his room at the flat.

Kairi was flirting up a stranger on the other side of the roof, Xion was slow dancing with another handsome devil to the band, who were playing a much quieter song, Hayner and his soccer buddies had gone to the local McDonalds and she was stuck with Vanitas, Axel and Larxene for company, sharing around a strange fruity concoction that had acquired a green colour. Naminé had remembered it to taste like peppermint the first time it came around, but she had been since numbed to the taste. They'd moved to her apartment a while ago, and she was glad to be back in familiar territory rather than up on the roof with the rest of the hard core party animals. They were surrounded with glasses of juice and cherry, mink blankets and new pillows that were still a little hard for her liking.

"Van, you should have seen the first time Naminé rode one, honestly, the funniest thing ever."

"It wasn't that amusing, you're just a jackass," Naminé laughed, passing the drink to Larxene, who agreed with the sentiment.

"Much as I hate to admit it, Nami here did a lot better than Axel did when he was starting."

"Really?" Vanitas asked in disbelief.

"It's because Ax was too much of a bonehead to ask for help." Axel responded to this by throwing a pillow in Larxene's face, to which she responded by abruptly throwing a shot glass at his head. She missed and it hit him in the chest instead.

"Hey, not everyone has the kind of cash that Naminé has on her."

"Really? You're going to bring class into this again?" Naminé said, rolling her eyes.

"Not every day you meet a rich shmuck as awesome as Nami though," Axel reached around Larxene to pat the little blond's shoulder.

"Yeah, whatever," Naminé replied dismissively.

"Aww, don't be so cold, Nami. Ice princess? Want to kiss and make up?" the red-head teased, pouting his lips. Larxene rolled her eyes and stuff the bottle into Axel's mouth.

"Axel really shouldn't be here," Larxene shrugged. "He's got a to meet the stunt actors for his new movie tomorrow and he's gonna be hung over for it."

"Don't be a kill-joy Larxene," he moaned, burying his head into her shoulder. The blond rolled her eyes and checked the time.

"We better be off, before he regrets it enough to skip work tomorrow." She hauled a reluctant Axel off the couch and dragged him through the door, closing it after her. Larxene had certainly grown from the trigger-happy violent teen she used to be, but she did display the old tendencies every now and then.

"Bye," Naminé and Vanitas said at the same time.

"Just you and me now, Nami," his words sounded sultry and seductive in her ear, but she could have been imagining things. It was probably the alcohol making her uncomfortably aroused. Her vision was getting blurry and her thoughts weren't connecting together like they usually did.

"Well thank you for pointing that out, Captain Obvious, and making this moment more awkward than it had to be."

"It doesn't have to be awkward," Vanitas said, a slight slur in his words. He'd been like a sponge all night, always some kind of alcoholic beverage in his hand. "C'mon Naminé, just pick a philosophical topic and we'll keep the ball rolling from there."

"Wha-? How can you even _say_ phile-philose-philosophi… smart words with the amount you've drunken tonight?"

"'How much you _drank_'," he corrected.

"You know what I meant?"

"Yes."

"Don't be a dick about it," she grinned, leaning forward so that her forehead brushed against his own. Naminé had closed her eyes and was grinning foolishly, head pounding with the bass of the music which could be heard through the ceiling, and the vibration thrumming through her body and sending warm tingles all over her limbs.

Warm, spiced lips brushed against her own, and her eyes snapped open, her long blond lashes tangling in his own. She was surprised by the advancement, and accidentally knocked their teeth together. They pulled apart, cringing and clutching their mouths.

"Wow, that was uncalled for," he choked out.

"Some warning would have been nice."

"I'm trying to be spontaneous here."

She rolled her eyes, knowing that her cheeks were colouring themselves with blush. Vanitas had tried to kiss her. Someone wanted her. Someone intelligent, someone witty, someone as hot as the fucking sun. Her inhibitions locked in some dark corner of her brain, she sneaked forward to kiss him again, softly this time, her tongue lining his lips, trying to pry them apart.

He wrapped his arms around her waist, pushing her against her lime green couch, the cold embrace of his necklace raising goosebumps on her skin. "I thought-" she said breathlessly as he brushed his nose against her jawline, "that you were…" her breath escaped her in a moan, as she gripped Vanitas' shoulder blades, "trying to say something philo…so…phical?"

"Geez, Naminé, what do you want me to say?" he pressed his lips to hers quickly, a peck at most, before pressing them insistently to her neck again. "I support the liberal party." He dragged his lips along the column of her throat, leaving behind trails of fire in their wake, "I honestly couldn't give two shits about the carbon tax." He positioned himself to comfortable lie about her, elbows near the bottom of her rib cage, "I think Senator Vexen is driving this economy into the _ground,_" he stretched out the word, the purr of his voice a definite turn on for her.

"This is the worst dirty talk in the history of sex, Vanitas," she grinned against his skin, loving the spicy, refreshing scent.

"Would you like me to speak in French?" he whispered in her ear, biting on the lobe gently and teasing it between his teeth.

"Can't be worse than your news report."

He ground his hips into her own, igniting sparks across Naminé's body as he said, "On voit beaucoup de pains dans la boulangerie."

"Yes…" she sighed, arching into his body, his beautiful words a fog in her brain as she worked through the unbearable pressure in her body.

"La lampe est dans le salon."

Naminé blinked quietly, her memory trying to understand where she'd heard those phrases before. She wrapped her arms around Vanitas' back, her nails digging into his shoulder blades again.

"Omelette du fromage," he purred, but this time, Naminé _did_ manage to catch on and started laughing uncontrollably, her hands slipping into the hair at Vanitas' nape, trying to control her raucous giggles. Vanitas laughed with her, the sound a low rumble in the back of his throat that sent tingles down her spine. His chuckle rocked her body and she spread her legs to accommodate his form.

The blond looked up at him, bringing up her hand to pull some bangs away from his eyes. They looked so gloriously lupine, and his smile just ignited all her instincts until her nerves were fraying a the edges.

"Shh," she muttered between giggles, pressing one of her fingers to his lips. "Roxas is in the next room, remember?"

"Well then," he smirked, pecking her lips and sliding down, "it would be," he slipped a kiss between her collar bones, in the valley between her breasts, "in your best interest," a large hand slipped underneath her shirt, mapping out her toned stomach, "to keep," he dragged his lips along the smooth crevice between her hip and her leg, his fingers slipping into her belt loops, "quiet…"

Everything after that was a pleasurable blur; heated kisses that set her on fire, unrivalled bliss that set her aglow from within, deep murmurs and passion that set red groves into their skin.

* * *

**& bgm: **_Dirty Little Secret - _All-American Rejects

She inhaled once and was awake, her head buried into the crevice of his arms, hand drumming over a goose bumped pectoral. Her hand slipped in and around the chain hanging from his chest, wondering if Vanitas had ever mentioned faith in any religion. She looked up and watched Vanitas as he slept, her gaze caressing the smooth line of his jaw, and the curve of his feathery, dark lashes. She exhaled and was suddenly aware of his chest rising out of time with hers, expelling quiet gusts of alcohol-tinted breath from between pale lips.

It suddenly dawned on her exactly what had happened; she'd slept with Vanitas.

Again.

She bolted upright, taking the blanket draped over the both of them and clutching it to her chest, pressing her hand in the crevice's of the couch, feeling for her bra. Her movements startled Vanitas awake, who cracked open his gorgeous golden eyes and sleepily caressed her arm with the back of his knuckles.

"Hey," his voice was husky, and still amazingly attractive.

She offered a weak smile before looking around for her underwear, managing to wriggle it on underneath the mess of blankets. Vanitas stretched and looked around for his boxers, pulling the blanket off suddenly, prompting Naminé to let out a girlish scream. "God dammit, it's cold."

"Shh," Vanitas murmured, "Roxas, remember?"

"Like you cared when you were _trying_ to make me scream," Naminé replied snippily, narrowing her eyes at Vanitas' smug expression.

"Man, I can't believe it happened again," Vanitas sighed, pulling on his underwear lethargically.

"You mean, you can't believe you got drunk and tricked yourself into another girl's pants?" Naminé said, pulling on her shorts. Vanitas shook his head slowly, casting his eyes in the direction of Roxas' room. She followed his gaze, looking anxious as she slipped on her tank top. "Don't worry about him," Vanitas assured, "according to Ven, Roxas sleeps like a log. The only thing that can wake him up is if you slip an ice cube into his clothes."

She rolled her eyes and settled back onto the couch watching Vanitas dress. He looked around for his shirt, as her eyes traced the almost artistic arch of his shoulders, the soft crevice of his spine, the shadow of the dimples just peeking over his boxer shorts. Her fingers itched, but this time, not for a cigarette, but for pencils, and scraps of paper. Naminé was surprised by the instinctual desire, the want to etch Vanitas' form onto paper.

"Hey," she murmured shyly, "could I draw you sometime?"

Vanitas swivelled his head, so the outline of his golden eyes could be seen, resting atop arched cheekbones. They lifted up, as if he was smiling.

"Now we're just using each other, aren't we?"

She could see the look in his eyes, the spark on inspiration hit her at the same time. The blond assumed they had been struck with the same idea.

"You know, it's a lot easier than an actual relationship," he said.

"And we'd be able to call each other whenever we needed release," she shrugged.

"We already know we're physically compatible."

"We wouldn't have to feel self conscious about each other."

He chuckled and ran a hand through his mussed up hair, "I can't believe I'm actually proposing this, but-"

They were interrupted by the creak of Roxas' door. Without even thinking, Naminé pushed Vanitas onto the couch, he pulled the blanket over him, hiding from Roxas' line of sight. She sat down on his stomach, ignoring the pained growl.

"Hey Roxas!" she chirped.

Roxas sneered at her, pushing his bangs out of his eyes lazily, "What time did you go to sleep last night?"

"I don't know. Three?" she guessed.

He looked around suspiciously before shrugging, "I thought I heard someone else in here. I guess I was just dreaming it." He stood their awkwardly for a moment, scratching his elbow before he looked up at her, "Do you want to get some coffee?"

She thought about it for a moment, honestly _wanting _to, but she was sitting on top of a problem. Vanitas shifted underneath her and Naminé pretended to look embarrassed. "I'm sorry Roxas, but Kairi just texted me. She said she needs help clearing up after the party."

"Yeah," Roxas admitted, looking a little disappointed. "She has a hell of a lot to clean up."

"And she has to get it done with time to spare." She laughed nervously, "Why don't you take Pence and Olette? They crashed in Kairi's apartment."

"Sure," he smiled and waved. She watched him close the door before Vanitas heaved her off, sending her crashing into the floor.

"Thanks!" she said sarcastically.

"Your welcome," he smirked, placing his head in a hand, posing like someone ready to be ravished. She rolled her eyes and rubbed at her eyes, still a little too tired to be lying this early in the morning. "Tut, tut, Naminé. You're breaking the poor boy's heart."

"Go deep throat a knife." She replied, without any hesitation whatsoever. Vanitas simply kept that smug look on his face to further irritate her. "So, we've probably got to establish some rules."

"Don't worry," Vanitas said, pulling his phone from his back pocket. "Insane people have already established these things on the internet." Naminé sat next to him, watching his dexterous fingers type in 'fuck buddy rules'. She cringed a little at the term, but shrugged nonchalantly. "Swear by these rules."

"What?"

"Swear on them," he said, in complete seriousness.

"Honestly?"

He shrugged one of his shoulders, looking ridiculously cute as he grinned at the ground. When their eyes met, he said, "It's like swearing on the bible, except you're not allowed to lie this time."

"You don't _lie_ after swearing on the bible," she said, smiling in disbelief.

"C'mon."

She glanced at the 'Etiquette of Friends with Benefits' page he was on, smirking, "We've already _broken_ some of these."

"Naminé," he said imploringly, widening his eyes and pouting playfully. The site looked so ridiculous. She placed her hands on his own.

"Purely physical."

"No emotion," she agreed.

They finished in tandem, "Just sex."

* * *

**Etiquette of Friends with Benefits**

1. No cuddling.

2. Making out is not necessary.

3. Never ask questions afterwards.

4. No sleepovers.

5. Purely physical.

6. If it's not _fun, _then stop it.

7. Nothing more than sex.

8. No phone calls. Only booty calls.

9. No jealousy.

10. No personal issues.

11. Shaven. Bathed. Groomed.

12. It will come to an end eventually.

13. No friendship.

14. No lying.

15. No bonding.

16. Clear communication. No arguments.

17. Use protection.

18. Try to avoid each other in public.

19. Private affair. No one else must know.

20. Call it off once someone starts getting too emotional.

**tbc. **

Hope you enjoyed that! Please leave a review if you did. Remember that Naminé's outfits for the chapter can be accessed through **linkage** on my profile.

_kacey._


End file.
